Children of the Unicorn
by Aneko Kohana
Summary: *FINISHED!!!* Rating just in case. Sequel to The Unicorn and the Stag. Rose is pregnant with twins, new heirs to Gryffindor. But after what the Golds did to them last time, Voldemort and Lucretia Riddle want revenge...
1. Twins and Decorating

A/N: Hi people! I am Rose Potter, used to be Luitha Eria. This is the sequel to my fic The Unicorn and the Stag. In The Unicorn and the Stag, Harry found his sister Rosemary Lillian Potter, or Rose Lily Potter. She marries Bill Weasly. Hermione, his newly discovered cousin, moves in with Rose and Bill, who bought the Shrieking Shack. Sirius is cleared of all charges and moves in with them.  
  
The couples are Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, and Malfoy was expelled. Lucretia Diabolique Riddle is the twin sister of Tom Riddle, or Voldemort. Just so you won't be completely confused if you didn't read U&S. Oh, the Order of the Phoenix is a group of powerful witches and wizards. The most powerful ones are Level Gold. The current Golds are Harry, Hermione, Ron, Rose, Fred, George, Ginny, two identical American girls named Alexa and Alice Bernard, or Alex and Ally, and Parvati and Padma Patil.  
Harry Potter and the Unicorn's Children  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Harry woke on the morning of July thirtieth to his sister vomiting in the bathroom. He moaned and rolled over. Rose had discovered she was pregnant at the beginning of June and had horrible morning sickness. Poor Bill.  
  
Bill had gotten much less "cool" since he'd married. He'd thrown away the earrings and cut his hair to just above his shoulders. It actually looked good. Molly Weasly certainly thought so.  
  
"Harry!" Hermione called from the kitchen. "Breakfast!"  
  
Harry rolled out of bed and stumbled down the stairs to the kitchen. Hermione was standing at the stove flipping pancakes.  
  
"There's eggs and bacon over there," she said absently, nodding at three plates. "Yours is the green, mine's the blue, and Bill's is the purple. Don't get them mixed up."  
  
"What about Rose?" Harry asked as he picked up the green plate and sat it on the round breakfast table.  
  
"I have a feeling that if I cook her breakfast, she'll just hurl it up."  
  
"Why don't you ever let me cook?"  
  
"You've cooked nearly everything for the Durseleys since you were tall enough to reach the stove. Last time Bill cooked he nearly burned down the kitchen. Rose would hurl all over the stove. That leaves me."  
  
"I guess," Harry said through his scrambled eggs. Rose came in the kitchen just as she did.  
  
"Harry, chew first please."  
  
He grinned. "Why should I do that?"  
  
"Because if you don't I will hurl all over your breakfast."  
  
Harry changed the subject. "When's the World Cup anyways?" Rose used to play for the American team, who was playing against Afghanistan this year, so she had free tickets for the Top Box.  
  
"August fifteenth."  
  
"You going?"  
  
"Of course. I want to see what the Als do to the Afghan Beaters this time."  
  
Alexa and Alice Bernard were the identical twins who played Beater for the American team. They were also some of Rose's best friends. They were generally referred to as Alex and Ally or Al, or simply the Als.  
  
"What did they do last time?"  
  
"The Afghans whacked them in the nose with Bludgers, so the girls rigged their brooms with Dungbombs. They blew up in their Seeker's face so Em Grumman had such an easy time of catching the Snitch."  
  
"Cool."  
  
Emily Grumman was the Seeker for the American team. It used to be Rose, but she took a job as DADA teacher at Hogwarts for last year.  
  
"Eat your breakfast," Hermione ordered them. Harry and Rose rolled their eyes. Bill obediently shoveled down his breakfast. He had recently gotten a job working at the twins' new shop in Hogsmeade, a prank shop with a sort of restaurant especially for Hogwarts students. It was more of a club.  
  
"I've got to help the twins set up. We've got an event tomorrow." He put his plate and utensils in the sink and dashed out the door.  
  
"Hermione, can I have one of those pancakes?"  
  
"Uh.sure."  
  
She neatly flipped two perfect pancakes onto a little pink and white plate with designs of roses and lilies on it.  
  
"Do you want the butter or the syrup?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
She neatly buttered her pancakes and carefully poured the syrup over them. Hermione sat down in Bill's recently vacated chair.  
  
"Have you thought about names yet?"  
  
"I want Lillian or James. I don't know about Bill, he says he's still thinking. But I think he agrees."  
  
"I like Lily and James."  
  
"Obviously I do," Harry said. "I named my phoenix James."  
  
"I named mine Lily. Speaking of which, how's Plumaroa doing, Hermione?"  
  
"She's doing wonderfully. She likes to play in the Owlery."  
  
"Yeah. Starsong and Lily go there a lot."  
  
"James practically lives there. Rose, who's the DADA teacher this year?"  
  
He had been springing this question on her all summer.  
  
"He's permanent."  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
"He's really cool. You've met him."  
  
"Rose! That's it!"  
  
He tried looking through her memories for the name. He found it.  
  
"I don't know why I didn't do that before! He's coming back?!"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Mione, Moony's returning!"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Wicked!"  
  
"I've got to go down to the store," Rose said. "I'm going to give Daddy a little joke present. Dog food. Padfoot!"  
  
A large, shaggy black dog came down the stairs and turned into Harry's godfather.  
  
"Eat your breakfast."  
  
He grumbled and picked up a large black plate with the most food on it.  
  
"I'm going to the store."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Bye."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose decided to fly down to the local store, Whiz-Mart. She transformed into a phoenix and landed on the roof for a few seconds before swooping through the ladies' bathroom window to transform back into a human.  
  
She found the pet food aisle quickly. She had had to go there a lot to buy things for her cat Godric, a birthday present from the Bernards. The dog food was right next to the cat food. She bought a nice gift bag of dog food and some new clothes for everyone in the house.  
  
Once she was finished, she decided to visit the local doctor.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry and Sirius were watching a replay of the semi finals for the Quidditch World Cup, America versus China.  
  
"Look at Em Feint!" Harry said.  
  
"That's not the Wronski Feint!"  
  
"It's the Potter Feint! It actually exists!"  
  
"What is the Potter Feint?"  
  
"Ask Rose."  
  
"She made a Quidditch move?!"  
  
"Not used very much because it's pretty near impossible to do."  
  
"I see."  
  
"Ask her to show it to you."  
  
"Ask Rose to show you what?" she asked from the doorway. "Here, I bought you new clothes. Harry, Daddy, you need them desperately. Mione just wants some new clothes and I'm going to need new clothes very soon."  
  
"You went to the doctor didn't you?"  
  
She gave Sirius the Death Stare she had learned from her other godfather, Severus Snape. "Friggin' parental instincts. Yes, I did."  
  
"And?"  
  
"It's a girl."  
  
"And?"  
  
"Crud. You are really annoying, you know that?" She started sorting the clothes. "A boy."  
  
"Ooh, twins?" Hermione said from the door. Rose rolled her eyes.  
  
"Nooo. Septuplets. Of course twins."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Here are your new clothes."  
  
"Ooh!" she ran upstairs to her room to put them on.  
  
"Harry, here are yours. Go change."  
  
Harry still only had Dudley's old clothes.  
  
"Daddy, you need clothes. You haven't gotten any new ones for about fifteen years." She handed him a large pile of clothes. "Both of you, go change!"  
  
They ran to their rooms.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose decided to go to The Golden Phoenix, the Weasly twins' shop to help with their "event." Their event just happened to be a birthday party for Harry. She had been put in charge of decorations. She Apparated.  
  
"Hi, Mrs. Potter," Fred said. Bill and Rose had chosen to keep Rose's surname.  
  
"Hi, Mrs. Potter," George echoed. They had gotten used to her doing that. They had recently gotten their own Apparating licenses and a house at the same time.  
  
"I'm here to decorate," she told them. "Where's Bill? He's the one who gets to put everything up."  
  
"Why don't you just levitate it?"  
  
"They look better if it's done manually. Where's Bill?"  
  
"Setting up the presents table."  
  
Rose strode over to the table designated for the presents where Bill stood, his back to her. She grabbed the back of his neck, making him jump.  
  
"Bill, I've got the decorations," she told him.  
  
"Sirius told me you went to the doctor's."  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Boy, girl, or all of the above?"  
  
"C."  
  
"Twins? That's wonderful!"  
  
"Hm. Now here are the decorations. Ladder's over there."  
  
He shook his head and climbed the ladder. Stubborn wife.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
There's the first chappie! Things get more interesting later, don't worry. Just look at the summary. 


	2. A Birthday Party and a Dream

A/N: I forgot to mention that Hermione's parents were killed by Voldemort and so were Seamus Finnigann's.  
Harry Potter and the Unicorn's Children  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Hermione was in heaven. Her cousin Rose had recently added a large library to the house, mostly for herself and Hermione. The boys really had no interest in it.  
  
Hermione was in the middle of a thick book on magical beasts when Rose returned.  
  
"Oh, found that, did you," she said upon seeing Hermione's book. "Just added that."  
  
"It's really good."  
  
"I know. I've read it six times. I've got to do a bit of homework. Snape wants me to look up a potion for him in Most Potent Potions II. The Hogwarts library doesn't have it and I won't let him in the house. He'd die. It's too cheerful here."  
  
"Most Potent Potions are over there. Shelf 12, books 7, 8, and 9."  
  
"Thanks." She went off to find it. Harry came in.  
  
"Have you seen Rose?"  
  
"Shelf 12." Hermione resumed reading.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose was copying down the potion when Harry tapped her shoulder.  
  
"Rose."  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Can I invite some friends here for the summer?"  
  
"Sure. The Als just sent me a bunch more tickets. I need to do something with them."  
  
"Okay. How many can I invite?"  
  
"Go ahead and invite all the Golds. I haven't seen my in-laws since my wedding, anyways."  
  
"Sure!"  
  
"I'll be right back. I've got to give this potion to Snape."  
  
"I thought you called him Dad."  
  
"Not where Sirius can hear. He'd throw a fit."  
  
"Point taken."  
  
He bounded of to owl his friends. Rose decided to walk through the Whomping Willow passage to the school. It took her about fifteen minutes. Snape was waiting for her on the other side.  
  
"Do you have the potion?"  
  
"Yes." She handed him the parchment.  
  
"How's the family?"  
  
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're not telling me something."  
  
"The Ministry approved your adoption of Hermione."  
  
She screamed and hugged him. "What about Harry?"  
  
Snape didn't seem too pleased. "Black gets him."  
  
"Oh, give it up. Call a truce or I'll make you."  
  
He gave her the Death Stare.  
  
"Doesn't work as well when I can do it too."  
  
He scowled, and then smiled. Not good. When Snape was happy, someone else was about to not be.  
  
"Bill told me."  
  
"He did not."  
  
"Yes he did. Boy and a girl. Let me guess. James and Lillian."  
  
"Duh."  
  
She groaned. "Why am I not surprised? And I know personally that Bill did not tell you. I only told him an hour ago."  
  
He scowled again. "It was a guess."  
  
"Whatever. Got to go make sure Harry's not blowing up the house. Bye!" She poked the knot on the root and ducked through the trunk. This time, Bill was waiting for her.  
  
"Hi, Rosie."  
  
"Hi, Bill. Why are you waiting for me? Did Harry blow up the house?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Has Daddy gone dog and messed up my kitchen for buying him dog food?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then what?"  
  
"Go look at your cousin."  
  
She followed him back to the house. Hermione was asleep at the table she had been sitting at, her head on the book and her thumb in her mouth. Rose frowned.  
  
"She stayed up late and got up early again, didn't she."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I have got to make her let Harry do some of the work! She does everything!"  
  
"She won't let him because he's done all the work for years. She won't let me or Sirius because we'd burn the kitchen down."  
  
She sighed. "I'm getting Severus to make me a potion."  
  
"Ginny's coming in an hour. She can make it."  
  
"Okay. I'm going to take a nap."  
  
"All right."  
  
"Wake up Mione. It's lunchtime. Make her a sandwich or something, just don't use the stove and don't let her make it."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Rose went into her room and fell asleep almost immediately.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Hermione was woken up by her cousin-in-law tapping her on the head.  
  
"Stop it," she moaned.  
  
"Would you rather I shut the book? It's noon. You need to eat. You're a toothpick."  
  
She quickly sat upright. "Oh my gosh! I need to make lunch!"  
  
"Rose said for you not to."  
  
She leaned back on the table, grumbling.  
  
"I'll make a sandwich. Do you like turkey?"  
  
"I went vegetarian."  
  
"What about peanut butter and honey?"  
  
"Love it. But don't use the stove."  
  
"No one trusts me with it."  
  
"You'd burn it. Go make yourself useful."  
  
"Is that your motto?"  
  
"No!"  
  
"All right, I'm going."  
  
Hermione went back to her book. Bill returned with her sandwich three chapters later.  
  
"Make sure you clean up the kitchen."  
  
"Yes, yes, I know."  
  
He went to put away the mess he'd made. Hermione returned to her book, careful not to get sandwich crumbs on it. An hour later she was interrupted again by someone grabbing her shoulder. She whirled.  
  
"Ron!" she yelled joyfully. She jumped up and hugged him. "Missed you."  
  
"Missed you too. Having fun?"  
  
"Lots! Has Harry told you about Rose yet?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Guess not. I'm going to tell everybody else." She dragged her boyfriend back to the fireplace her friends had Flooed to. They were all there. Parvati and Padma Patil, Ginny Weasly, Dean and Seamus, the Patils' boyfriends, even Alex and Ally had turned up.  
  
"Hi everybody!" she said.  
  
"Hi, Mione."  
  
"Guess what's up with Rose."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Did Fred and George have another prank war?"  
  
"No," Rose said from behind them.  
  
"Mione was just telling us something you neglected to mention in your letters," Alex said suspiciously.  
  
"I did a vision correction spell so my eyes are permanently green now."  
  
"Cool. Now what is it?"  
  
Rose gave her the Death Stare. "Hint. Look for a hint."  
  
"Not fair! Ho deep did you bury the memory?"  
  
"Not very. Just try."  
  
Alex did. Her eyes went wide. "Twins?! That's great!"  
  
"Now we'll never get her back!" Ally said mournfully. Her sister kicked her.  
  
"Don't worry; I'll start Quidditch again eventually. Besides, Em finally learned to tell the difference between a Wronski Feint and the real thing. And she's getting really good at that other Feint."  
  
The twins grinned. "You mean the Potter Feint?"  
  
"No! Agh!"  
  
The girls laughed. Rose gave them the Death Stare. "Here, I'll show you your rooms. Have you had lunch yet?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Whatever you do, don't ask Bill to make you anything. The only people in this house who can cook are the Potter-Evans people. Meaning Harry, Mione, and me. That's all."  
  
"What can we have?"  
  
"A sandwich. If you want you can have a BLT."  
  
"Ooh, goody. Do you have mayonnaise?"  
  
"If Daddy hasn't eaten it all. He is such a dog." She giggled. The others actually understood the joke. Rose had told them about the Marauders.  
  
They sat down at the little round kitchen table and chatted about how the Americans were going to smash the Afghans.  
  
"Oh, that reminds me," Rose said. "I've got tickets for everyone who doesn't have one. If you do have one, these are Top Box."  
  
No one had a ticket, except for Harry, Rose, and Mione, so they all got one.  
  
"Oh, hi everybody," Bill said. He had just come in with the twins. Their faces lit up at the sight of the Bernards.  
  
"Hi, Alex," Fred said.  
  
"Hi, Ally," George said.  
  
"Wanna come see our house?" Fred asked.  
  
"Sure," they answered happily. They Apparated over.  
  
"I will bet money on the fact that they will have a makeout session for an hour," Rose said, rolling her eyes. "They really missed each other. The Als kept asking about the twins in their letters, and the Weaslys kept asking if the Als asked about them."  
  
"How's your summer been?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Perfect. No group dreams, so aching scar. Just very, very bad morning sickness."  
  
"Ugh. I will adopt," Ally said.  
  
"Who says I can't?" Rose said teasingly.  
  
"Who'd you get? Harry, Mione, or both of them?" Alex asked.  
  
"I haven't told them."  
  
"Rosemary Lillian Potter! Who?!"  
  
"Hermione."  
  
"Aw."  
  
"Sirius got Harry."  
  
Everyone cheered.  
  
"It won't make much of a difference. We live in the same house."  
  
"I guess."  
  
They talked until dinnertime. Rose and Hermione threw them out of the kitchen and into the living room, where they watched TV.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose was helping Hermione cook dinner.  
  
"How about pot roast, a salad, and some mashed potatoes?" Hermione said.  
  
"You planned this, didn't you?"  
  
"For weeks. I have the recipes memorized. There's this nice pie, too."  
  
"Sounds good."  
  
They got to work. They continuously had to throw the Als and the Weasly twins out of the kitchen. No on trusted them around food for good reason.  
  
"Hermione, you'd better eat some of the pie. You're a toothpick."  
  
"She is not. She has nice curves," Ron called from where he'd been eavesdropping. He really was right. But she had lost fifteen pounds since the beginning of summer.  
  
"Still eat the pie."  
  
"Fine. I love lemon meringue, anyways. Oh, the pot roast's finished. We'd better make everybody go to the dining room."  
  
"Bill! Try to get everybody into the dining room!" Rose called into the living room. He nodded and showed them the large dining room. Rose and Hermione brought the dinner. They started a nice conversation about The Golden Phoenix.  
  
"Fred, where did you ever get a name for that?" Ron said. He was joking. It was evident in how he touched his right upper arm, where there was a small tattoo of a gold phoenix. All the Golds had one, including Fred and George.  
  
"Oh, some things just come to you," he said airily, waving his pot roast around on the fork.  
  
"How did you manage to buy it?" Rose asked curiously.  
  
"Help," George said, glancing at Harry. "I've got some really rich friends."  
  
"What are you selling?"  
  
"Canary Creams and our fake wands, that sort of thing. We made everything in the shop by hand," Fred said.  
  
"And now that we've got our own house, we can have our own lab for making things without Mum yelling at us," George added.  
  
"Your mum's nice," Rose said. "I'm thinking of making Lily's middle name Molly."  
  
"Lillian Molly Potter," Bill said thoughtfully. "Sounds nice. Can I pick James's middle name?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Arthur. So Lillian Molly Potter and James Arthur Potter." He noticed his wife's face going rather green. "Uh-oh. Hermione, bowl!" She tossed him a large bowl from the floor. He handed it to Rose just in time. She gave her dinner to the bowl and ran to the bathroom to get rid of lunch.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"I'm losing my appetite," Dean announced.  
  
"We've just learned to live with it," Harry said casually. "That's usually how I get woken up."  
  
"Ugh," Seamus moaned.  
  
"Seamus, who have you been staying with?" Ginny asked.  
  
"I get shuffled around through aunts and uncles," he said through a mouthful of mashed potatoes. "No luck in adoption yet."  
  
"That sucks," Dean said.  
  
"Seriously."  
  
"They're better then the Durseleys," Harry said quietly. Rose, who had recently returned to the table, looked at him.  
  
*I thought you'd gotten over that,* she said.  
  
*Not too soon.*  
  
Rose discovered why he kept thinking about them. *You've been dreaming about them.*  
  
*I've been having nightmares about everything. Ginny when we'd just done the Rainbow Spell, The Durseleys, Bill dead, the Durseleys, the Death Eaters in the clearing, the Durseleys, Lucretia Riddle, the Durseleys.seeing a pattern?*  
  
*Gosh.*  
  
*We'd better start talking out loud again.*  
  
*Yeah.*  
  
Seamus was describing his latest aunt. "She's from my mum's side, so she's a witch. But she's crazy! She eats bugs! I'm serious!"  
  
"Gross!"  
  
They continued talking about how their summer had been and got the Bernards into describing their latest prank on the Chinese, who had lost the semi finals to them. It involved lots of Dungbombs tied to their mascot, a small Chinese Fireball.  
  
Rose made Hermione eat three slices of pie, while herself only having a little salad. She switched off her alarm, which was set for 5 a.m. She showed everyone to their rooms and gave the toilet the rest of her dinner, then went to bed.  
  
*~*~*  
  
July 31 dawned warm and sunny, most likely courtesy of the weather- controlling Bernard. Rose woke up at six and threw up for three hours, waking up the rest of the house except Hermione, who she suspected would sleep until noon or later.  
  
Fred and George got there in time for breakfast, which Ginny cooked. They had brought their presents to The Golden Phoenix yesterday.  
  
At eleven, everyone thought of various reasons to leave except for Rose. At quarter past, Rose took Harry down to the Phoenix.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry opened the door and was ambushed by thirteen people jumping at him and yelling, "Surprise!"  
  
He wasn't too surprised. He had had a surprise party last year as well. But he still hadn't gotten too used to having an actual party on his birthday.  
  
"You like it?" Rose asked.  
  
"Love it," he replied, smiling at her.  
  
Rose and Hermione had baked a huge chocolate cake the size of the Potters' coffee table. It had red icing and said in gold icing, "Happy Birthday Harry." There was a small gold lion in one corner. There were sixteen candles around the edge of a cake that matched the icing.  
  
"Make a wish, Harry," Rose said.  
  
He closed his eyes, made a wish, and blew out the candles. Everyone clapped.  
  
"Presents!" the Bernards yelled. They tossed a large, heavy gift wrapped in paper with a Quidditch design. He ripped it open and discovered the four Quidditch balls in their own box. The twins said it was from the semi finals.  
  
"Em Grumman gave them to us to give to you," they explained. He smiled gratefully and put the box next to him.  
  
The next present was from Hermione, who was still asleep. It was a collar for his phoenix, James, made of gold and decorated with tiny rubies. He carefully laid it on top of the Quidditch balls.  
  
"Harry!" Ron tossed him another present. It was, once again, assorted candy from Honeydukes.  
  
Rose had bought him a book on how to develop Animagi skills. He was a stag Animagi as far as he knew, but had only transformed once.  
  
"There's another copy in the library," she told him.  
  
The Weaslys had given him a 50 Galleon gift certificate to their store. The Patils had bought him his schoolbooks for the year. Sirius had gotten him.a rock.  
  
"Ask your sister how it works," he said, smirking. Rose moaned. Everyone knew how she hated explaining things.  
  
Ginny had gotten him a bell for James that attached to the collar from Mione.  
  
"It lets you find him anywhere,"  
  
"Cake!" the Weaslys yelled. Rose obediently picked up a knife and started cutting the cake.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"There's extra for the teachers," Rose explained.  
  
"Since when do the teachers eat cake?" Ron asked.  
  
"Since they're not around you," she explained.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I always ate cake around you."  
  
"You don't count. You're younger than them."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
She handed the first piece of cake to Harry. Everyone else scrambled to get the second. Once everyone had their cake, they sat down at the table the twins had made by pushing several smaller tables together and started a conversation about who would win the World Cup.  
  
"Afghanistan doesn't have a chance," George said through a mouthful of cake. "Their Beaters always offend the Als and end up with various items tied to their brooms."  
  
"Any suggestions on this year's revenge? We used Dungbombs last year."  
  
"May I suggest Dragonbombs?"  
  
"Perfect."  
  
"What are Dragonbombs?"  
  
"They look like Dungbombs but they're neon orange. They turn into a large Chinese Fireball, fly around a little than burst into green slime. Lots of green slime. But only on its targets. In this case, the Afghan team."  
  
"Wicked!"  
  
There was a big bang from the door. Hermione burst in, still fussing with her clothes.  
  
"I can't believe you let me sleep so late!" she said furiously. "Who made breakfast? Who cleaned up after breakfast? Who cleaned up the wrapping paper?"  
  
Rose stepped forward and put her hand on Hermione's shoulder. "I did," she said calmly. Privately she said, *Calm down. I didn't hurl on anything. Snape gave me a potion.*  
  
*Oh.*  
  
*Yeah. Oh is right.*  
  
She led Mione over to the table. "We were just talking about what the Als are going to do to Maheen and Daheen. You know, the Afghan Beaters. They say Dragonbombs."  
  
"That thing we stole from the Weaslys and tested on them? Sounds good."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
They chatted for a few more hours over more cake and vanilla mochas, which they had become addicted to over last year's trip to Salem, Massachusetts.  
  
"Who made the mochas?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Me," Rose said.  
  
"I am so glad you adopted me."  
  
"It's kind of weird, though. I have an adopted child who's five years younger than me."  
  
"I think it's fun. It makes us more of sisters than mother and daughter."  
  
"We are cousins."  
  
"I guess."  
  
They talked until Rose told them all to get home.  
  
"The Floo powder's on the mantelpiece. The jar's labeled. Goodbye kisses now."  
  
All the couples kissed, picked up their presents to Harry and slowly walked back to the house.  
  
The Weaslys left first. Their house was closer. Ron kissed and hugged Hermione again, then stepped into the fireplace. The Patils followed and their boyfriends followed. (Dean and Seamus had decided to go home with them.) The last people to leave were Alex and Ally. They hugged Rose and kissed Fred and George. Finally, the house was quiet. At least reasonably quiet.  
  
Rose's face was going green. "I think that potion wore off." She bolted for the bathroom.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"I wonder why they call it morning sickness at six in the evening," Harry said, staring after her.  
  
"Dunno," Bill said, sounding much like Ron.  
  
Hermione suppressed a giggle. *I just had a thought about James and Lily. I will bet money on their hair color,* she said to Harry.  
  
Harry snorted. *Hey you never know. They might look like Rose and Dad.*  
  
*Maybe.*  
  
Bill stared at them. "Was that something mean?"  
  
"No," they said in unison.  
  
"Then what was it?"  
  
Rose saved them. She came in and announced that she was going to kill her father.  
  
"Be my guest," Sirius said.  
  
"That's not very nice!"  
  
"He's not very nice."  
  
"All I need to do is threaten him with a bit of fire and he does anything I want him to."  
  
"Tell him to wash his hair, then." Sirius grinned at his own wit.  
  
Everyone laughed.  
  
"I'm going to tell him that if he doesn't make the potion stronger, there will be a repeat of the Potter/Weasly conspiracy."  
  
Everyone laughed even more, remembering how Snape was stuck in red and gold burnt robes for a week.  
  
"There's always the Gryffindor Charm."  
  
The Gryffindor Charm, as it was now known, was a charm that made someone's hair flash red and gold. If anyone tried to remove or change it, their own hair would flash. The Weasly twins had cast it on Malfoy the day after his expulsion.  
  
"I wonder if Malfoy's hair is still flashing."  
  
"I'd like to see Lucius Malfoy's hair flashing Gryffindor colors," Rose said. She despised Lucius Malfoy. He was the one who had given her the scar on her forehead.  
  
"I want to see Malfoy dead."  
  
"Which?"  
  
"Both."  
  
"Narcissa, too?"  
  
"Um.maybe."  
  
"Why only maybe?"  
  
"She was a Ravenclaw."  
  
"I know what Padma would say to that. 'Traitor!'"  
  
"She is."  
  
Rose yawned. "Hermione, go to bed. I've taken away your clock. Harry, you too. I'm drinking the potion tonight so I won't wake everyone up in a very unpleasant way tomorrow morning. Daddy, you too."  
  
Everyone stumbled into their various rooms and dropped off into peaceful sleep. Harry's sleep, however, wasn't so peaceful. He had another dream.  
  
He was standing in a stone room. Bill, Rose, Hermione and Ron were there, too. Rose was passed out in Bill's arms. Harry looked down in his own arms. A tiny face almost exactly like his own stared up at him. Hermione carried a baby that looked like Rose. Ron held something that looked like a person, but Harry couldn't be sure. He looked closer.  
  
It was Ginny. Suddenly someone laugh. Two laughs. There was a flash of light, and the babies were no longer in anyone's arms.  
  
Harry and Rose woke up, quickly and suddenly. 


	3. Quidditch and Phoenixes

I'm changing the title because the story wasn't showing up on Find for some reason. It's going to be The Children of the Unicorn.  
  
Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out but in case you didn't notice it's very long!  
  
And if you translate Rose's password you'll find out why it's French.  
Harry Potter and the Unicorn's Children  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Rose was running through the passageway between her house, formerly known as the Shrieking Shack, and the Whomping Willow under her mum's old Invisibility Cloak. She had had another dream, and her scar was aching.  
  
She smacked her forehead hard and heard a snicker from behind her.  
  
*Harry!*  
  
*Sorry. I can't help myself. It sounds so weird when you do that while you're invisible.*  
  
*I take it you had the dream, too.*  
  
*Yeah. Do you think those were James and Lily? You know, the twins.*  
  
*Who else could they be? They looked exactly like you and me.*  
  
*I guess. But now I'm going to gloat at Mione, she said she'd bet money that they'd both had red hair.*  
  
*Where was that place? Did you recognize it?*  
  
*It looked kind of like a cave. Hey, what did you see, anyways?*  
  
*It worked like I wasn't one of the people directly in the dream. I just watched everything happen from above, like I was flying.*  
  
*I had a dream like that once.*  
  
*Yeah, I know. Who did you think dreamed it with you?*  
  
*What's up with you? You're cranky all the time.*  
  
*You'd be cranky if you spent almost the entire day throwing up.*  
  
*Point taken.*  
  
They had reached the Whomping Willow. Rose picked up a stick from the ground and poked the knot on the root. They climbed out.  
  
*Does Professor Dumbledore even stay here during the summer?* Harry asked.  
  
*Yeah. Grandpa doesn't really have much of a life. He threw himself into working after he defeated Grindlewald in 1945. You know, the dark wizard. He was like a Voldemort. Grindlewald, not Dumbledore.*  
  
*Do you know why?*  
  
*I've pulled a few tidbits out of his mind. Has something to do with a family.*  
  
*Dumbledore had a family?*  
  
*Of course he did, Smarts.*  
  
*Sorry.*  
  
*Come on, shut up for a bit. Dad might hear us.*  
  
Professor Snape could receive thoughts but not send them. He could also eavesdrop on others' conversations.  
  
They had reached the entrance hall. It didn't take them long to find Dumbledore's office. Rose and Harry used their personal clearances.  
  
"Potter, Rosemary Lillian, Gold," she told the stone gargoyle. To her surprise, it talked to her.  
  
"Do you have Potter, Harrison James, Gold with you?" it asked.  
  
"Yes," Rose replied. The gargoyle sprung aside and Harry and Rose ran up the spiral staircase. It only took them five minutes to get to the top.  
  
"Professor," Rose panted.  
  
"We had another dream," Harry added.  
  
Professor Dumbledore turned around in his chair to look at them. "Rose, Harry, your Invisibility Cloaks are still on."  
  
They snatched their cloaks off and started talking.  
  
"We dreamt we were in this big cave," Rose started. "I was there, and so were Bill, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron. I was passed out and Bill was holding me, and Ron was carrying Ginny. She had blacked out too, I think."  
  
"I was carrying this little baby that looked just like Dad," Harry added. "Hermione was holding one that looked just like Rose. Two people laughed, it sounded like Voldemort and his sister. There was this big light, and the babies just disappeared."  
  
Dumbledore leaned back in his chair. "I do believe that those were Lillian Molly and James Arthur." Rose's jaw dropped. "My dear Rose, always take in mind how quickly certain female twins spread news when you tell people things."  
  
"I'll kill them," Rose growled.  
  
"Who?" Harry asked.  
  
"All four of them. The rumor weeds. The Patils and the Bernards."  
  
"Rosemary, please refrain from harming anyone," Professor Dumbledore broke in. "Was there anyone or anything else you recognized?"  
  
"We already told you that the laugh sounded like the Riddle laugh. That's about it."  
  
"All right. You may return to Hogsmeade now."  
  
Rose and Harry pulled their cloaks back on. Before she left, she turned around to ask Dumbledore a question.  
  
"Did you tell the gargoyle to ask if Harry was with me every time I used my personal clearance?"  
  
"Yes. He seems never to come up here without you, and vice versa."  
  
Rose rolled her eyes under the cloak and followed her brother down the stairs.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry awoke the next morning to.Rose calling him for breakfast. The potion worked! He got dressed and slid down the staircase. Rose noticed.  
  
"How come you're so cheerful?"  
  
"For once I wasn't woken up by you hurling. And you're actually making breakfast two days in a row."  
  
"Yeah. I'm not letting Hermione anywhere near it. I want to do something myself for a change. Here's your toast and eggs," she said, pointing to his ceramic green plate loaded with French toast, eggs, and three pieces of bacon.  
  
"Bill already left. The Golden Phoenix is going to host a party after the World Cup and they're starting preparations already. Sirius went up to the castle. Uncle Remus is coming today."  
  
Harry raised his eyebrows. "Uncle Remus?"  
  
"He was almost my godfather instead of Severus. But Mum insisted. Dad wasn't too pleased. You know, Mum and him dated for their first three years."  
  
"Is that why he hates me?"  
  
"No. He's practically told you why he hates you. You look like Dad, and Dad saved his sorry ass. He hates people helping him. You should see what he does when he's sick."  
  
Harry snorted. "I can't imagine Severus Snape actually sick."  
  
"He got the stomach flu once when I was in second year. Guess who got to mentally hold him down while Aunt Poppy poured potions down his throat? He made me miserable for the entire rest of the year."  
  
"Ugh. I remember when Dudley got the stomach flu. Aunt Petunia let him eat as much as he wanted because 'heaven knows he would lose whatever he ate just after it hit his stomach! He needed nourishment!' Of course, she didn't bother to think about who got to clean up after him. And who got the flu from him. And who had to puke in the backyard. And she still blamed me for ruining her daffodils."  
  
"Is that the only flower she grows? Not counting petunias."  
  
"Yeah. She hates roses, lilies, and marigold. And those are the only other flowers she has coupons for."  
  
"Good morning, everybody," Hermione said from the doorway. She saw the breakfast and her eyes lit up. She shot over to the table and started gobbling down her eggs.  
  
"Hungry?" Rose said, smiling.  
  
Hermione swallowed. "A bit." She started on the toast. Suddenly, the full realization that Rose wasn't still throwing up hit her. "Rose! The potion worked!"  
  
"I made Dad make it about five times stronger. It should work for the next four days."  
  
"That's great!"  
  
Harry turned to his sister. "Want to practice flying later?"  
  
Hermione frowned. "I don't think she-"  
  
"Sure. I might finally heed to the Als' wishes and teach you 'the Potter Feint.'"  
  
Hermione grumbled something that sounded much like "Quidditch addicts." Aloud she said, "I'm going swimming."  
  
"You're finished already?"  
  
"Yeah." She bolted to her room to put on her bathing suit.  
  
"Come on, Harry. Get your Quidditch robes and your Firebolt."  
  
He grinned and ran upstairs.  
  
*~*~*  
  
About half an hour later, Harry and Rose were at the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch with Harry's brand new balls. Rose was in her American robes and Harry had his plain Gryffindor robes. Rose had tied her waist-length wavy auburn hair into two long braids.  
  
"We just see who catches the Snitch first," Rose said.  
  
"Sure," Harry replied.  
  
Rose let the Snitch out and was careful to keep her eye on it as she mounted her broom and flew into the air. But it quickly flew too far away for her to see it.  
  
She saw Harry right behind her. She knew he'd recognize a Wronski Feint. Besides, she'd been reluctant to do one ever since Viktor Krum had gotten her friend, American Seeker Emily Grumman, a snapped spine. She was so glad Em had recovered, but she didn't want her brother killing himself in a practice.  
  
Suddenly, she saw the Snitch right next to a goal hoop. She sped off towards it. Harry was following her. She grinned. Potter Feint time!  
  
As soon as she got close enough to the Snitch to catch it, she reached out and grunted, pretending to catch the Snitch. But instead, she let it keep flying, although she kept her eye on it. Harry flew to the ground and dismounted. That was when she actually grabbed the Snitch.  
  
She smirked at Harry's face as she landed.  
  
"Sucker! I win!"  
  
"That was the 'Potter Feint,' wasn't it?"  
  
"I will never forgive them for telling her. Yes, it was."  
  
"Can you show me how to do that?"  
  
"It's easy. You just have to watch the Snitch while the other Seeker is landing. When they've landed, get the Snitch."  
  
"Oh, I see."  
  
Rose spent the next hour teaching Harry how to feint. He caught on very quickly.  
  
"You want to go down to the Lake and swim with Mione?" Rose asked after they had landed and put away the Snitch.  
  
"Sure."  
  
"I've got my bathing suit on under this. I'll meet you by the lake."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Harry left for the Whomping Willow and Rose set off for the lake. But when she got there, Hermione was nowhere to be seen. Rose groaned.  
  
*Hermione Laura Granger! Using your power for good instead of evil, eh?*  
  
A dolphin suddenly rose out of the water, jumped into the air, flipped and breached.  
  
*Sorry, Rose. But it's so fun! Come try!*  
  
Rose sighed. She was such a sucker. She pulled off her clothes to reveal her white and beige bathing suit and waded waist deep into the lake. She closed her eyes and pictured a dolphin. Five minutes later she was swimming in the bottom of the lake.  
  
*See? I told you it was fun,* Hermione said.  
  
*I never said it wasn't.*  
  
*You weren't happy that I had gone dolphin.*  
  
*The squid?*  
  
*I go human again and Stun it.*  
  
*Before you drown or are crushed from water pressure?*  
  
*You're down here too.*  
  
*I hate losing arguments.* She heard a faint voice from the surface. *Oh. Harry's here.*  
  
She and Hermione started swimming towards the surface.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry couldn't see his sister anywhere in the lake. He tried calling. Nothing. He decided to just sit down and wait.  
  
After waiting for about ten minutes, two dolphins rose to the surface of the water. They simultaneously flipped. One swam towards Harry and winked.  
  
*Hi, Harry.*  
  
He scrambled to his feet. "I'm coming." He decided to use harbor porpoise instead of dolphin. As soon as the transformation was complete, he dove beneath the surface.  
  
*The water feels sort of.weird to the dolphin,* Harry said.  
  
*That's because this is fresh water.*  
  
*I see.*  
  
They enjoyed their swim until Snape, McGonagall, Sirius and Madame Pomfrey came to look for them. Harry heard them calling; the trio wasn't that far from the surface.  
  
*Crud,* Rose complained. *Now I get it from all four of them.*  
  
*Why would you get in trouble?* Harry asked.  
  
*For letting you two change and changing myself.*  
  
*Oh.*  
  
"Rose!" They heard faintly. It sounded like McGonagall. Snape wasn't as nice.  
  
"Rosemary Lillian Potter! Get up here right now or I will Summon you!" They could hear him clearly underwater. Rose groaned.  
  
*I'll cover. I talked you two into changing, okay?*  
  
Harry and Hermione did the ocean equivalent of nodding. Then all three made their way to the surface.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose cringed at what her godfather would tell her. Severus, not Sirius. Aunt Poppy would fuss and her mother would scold. Sirius would just give her a Look. Those ones that let you know whatever they want to say.  
  
They broke the surface and changed back. Her godparents did not look happy.  
  
"Rosemary Lillian Potter!" Severus yelled. "What the hell did you think you were you doing?"  
  
This was more than she had expected. Severus never swore. He swore in his mind, she caught him at it all the time. But he never swore in front of students; he found it destroyed his cold exterior.  
  
He grabbed her shoulder and hauled her off towards the Whomping Willow.  
  
"What were you doing? Did you think about what could have happened to you or one of the kids?"  
  
"FYI, Father, they're not kids anymore. I'm not either. Stop controlling me!" She ripped her shoulder out of his grip and felt her eyes begin to turn violet.  
  
"What about the twins?"  
  
Her eyes were at full purple now. "I've looked this up. I'm not stupid, much as you would like me to be. It doesn't hurt the twins. I prepared for if the squid showed up. Now would you just leave me be!"  
  
Rose pulled out her wand from where it was sewn into her bathing suit and put the Leg-Lock curse on her godfather. He swore again, and watched her run through the Willow and back to her house.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry just escaped from Madame Pomfrey and Sirius and was chasing after Rose. He saw her yell at Snape, curse him and run through the Whomping Willow passageway. He ran towards Snape.  
  
"What did she use?"  
  
"Leg-lock."  
  
Harry did the counter curse and ran through the Willow. He caught up to his sister about halfway through.  
  
"Rose, why did you curse your godfather?"  
  
"Because if he didn't stop controlling me I was afraid I'd do the involuntary Avada. You know, how we almost kill the Malfoys that one time in London."  
  
Harry remembered all too well. "What was he doing?"  
  
"Making a fuss and trying to control me."  
  
"Okay." He paused, trying to think of a way to cheer her up. "You want to go down to The Golden Phoenix for a French vanilla mocha?"  
  
"No."  
  
"With Bill?"  
  
She looked up a bit. "And?"  
  
"The rest of the Weaslys?"  
  
"They're all here?!"  
  
"Mrs. Weasly insisted on coming to see you. She hasn't since your wedding. She's really enjoying having a daughter-in-law, according to Ron. She's always talking about you. She cried when she found out you were pregnant."  
  
"Good tears, I hope."  
  
"Of course. Charlie snapped a picture of her when she found out one of them would have her name. Charlie gave it to Bill, Bill gave it to me."  
  
"The hotline."  
  
"Exactly." Harry was quite pleased with himself. He had actually succeeded in cheering someone up.  
  
They changed out of their bathing suits, pulled on T-shirts and shorts and headed down to the Phoenix. The Weaslys were waiting for them.  
  
"Hi, Mrs. Weasly," Rose said.  
  
"Oh! Rose!" Molly Weasly ran forward and hugged Rose.  
  
*I like having a mother-in-law. She's really nice, Harry. You might end up with the same one.*  
  
He turned red. The Weasly boys, who had apparently heard, grinned in delight. Ginny, thankfully, didn't hear it.  
  
Rose and Mrs. Weasly sat down at a table with glasses of lemonade and started chatting. Harry sat down between Ron and Ginny.  
  
"Anything interesting happening at your house, Ron?"  
  
"Dad found a new car."  
  
"Oh no."  
  
"We won't mind!" the twins said.  
  
"It's a Lexus."  
  
"Great!"  
  
"Hey, Fred, who's gonna win the Cup?" Ron asked.  
  
"America!" they yelled. Four wizards at the table next to them heard.  
  
"The Afghan Beaters are the best I've ever seen! They'll beat that girl team five hundred to zero!" one of them yelled.  
  
The twins looked very offended and jumped to their table. "Are you saying the Bernard twins are bad Beaters?" they said.  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Want to place a little bet on that?"  
  
"Definitely!"  
  
The other Weaslys and Harry were listening intently.  
  
"I'll bet you fifty Galleons America will win!" Fred said boldly.  
  
"Hah! I'll be getting rich soon, boys!" the wizard said.  
  
Harry, Ron and Ginny rolled their eyes and turned around.  
  
"Ginny, want to go for a swim in the Great Lake?" Harry asked.  
  
"What about the giant squid?"  
  
"Who says we'll be human?"  
  
"Dolphin?! Ooh, I haven't done that since the Bahamas last year!"  
  
"Ron, want to come?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Let's go." They made sure no one was looking and started off towards the Lake.  
  
*~*~*  
  
The remaining time until the World Cup passed quickly. The Weaslys stayed at the Potter house for the rest of the summer. The rest of Rose's and Harry's friends came a week before the Cup.  
  
August fifteenth dawned bright, warm and sunny, thanks to the weather- controlling Ally Bernard. She wasn't going to let in rain on her game.  
  
Rose woke up at six in the morning to Harry, Ron, Fred and George running down the hall banging pots. Rose groaned and shook Bill awake.  
  
"I envy your heavy sleeping," she moaned. "Come on, they're right. We need to get ready."  
  
She rolled out of bed and pulled on her old U.S. Quidditch robes. They were red, white and blue stripes with and eagle on the back.  
  
"Are you the mascot for this match?" Bill said. His voice was muffled by the pillow.  
  
"No. They found a real giant bald eagle."  
  
"Good."  
  
Rose finished her makeup and went to get everyone else.  
  
"Harry, give me those." She held out her hands for the pots. He reluctantly handed them over.  
  
"Grow up, Harry," Hermione said sleepily from her kitchen door. She saw Rose and perked up.  
  
"Do you still have those old robes we wore for the quarter-finals?"  
  
"Saved them just for you. Keep them this time."  
  
"Sure! And the girls want to know if they can have some too."  
  
"They can. I have some for everyone. Here, I brought them for you." Rose held out a mass of red, white and blue cloth. Hermione grabbed them and ran back into the room the girls were using.  
  
"Rose, are those all really your old robes?" Harry asked.  
  
"Of course not. I ordered them last year just before the quarter finals."  
  
"Evil woman."  
  
"Come on, go get dressed. Red, white and blue. And whatever you do, don't wear tan or black! Afghan colors!" she called at his retreating back. She went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.  
  
The girls joined her in the kitchen half an hour later, giggling and comparing makeup. The boys got there about ten minutes after that, drawn by the smell of food.  
  
"Toast, eggs and bacon," she said, pointing to the plates lined up on the table. "Take 'em and go or you'll be late. The rest of us are Apparating."  
  
Fred and George smirked at the sixth years, who glowered at them.  
  
"Rose, where is the Cup going to be held, anyways?" Ginny asked curiously.  
  
"Salem Witches Institute Quidditch Pitch," Rose answered with pride. "Home of the Eagles."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose, Bill, Sirius, and the Weasly twins Apparated to the stadium at about eleven. The rest were waiting for them.  
  
"Come see the great stuff on sale!" Padma Patil said. "They have posters of all the players, and figurines, and Omnoculars, and all sorts of things! And they have some things of you!"  
  
"What?! I'm not on the team anymore!"  
  
"Everyone loves you because a) you're a Potter, and b) you're the hero of the quarter finals."  
  
Rose groaned. "Don't mention that please."  
  
"Sure. But why don't you wear a hat and tuck your hair into it. You don't look as much like a Potter that way."  
  
"Brought a hat just in case." She pulled a hat with a wide brim out of her trunk and tucked her hair into it, careful to leave her bangs down to hide her scar.  
  
"Harry, you look too much like a Potter to hide it."  
  
He pretended to be offended. "Thanks."  
  
"Just stay in the middle of us. That way no 'famous Harry Potter' comments."  
  
He happily complied. They checked into the hotel they were staying at and brought their things up to their rooms. Rose threw the hat into a corner and went to sit in the window seat. But there was someone else there.  
  
She screamed. "Alexa Elizabeth Bernard! What are you doing?!" Then she noticed the hovering broom outside her window.  
  
"Alice Diana Bernard! You two are supposed to be practicing!"  
  
Ally grinned. Oh, no. "We brought a friend to see you." Rose turned around to see Emily Grumman pulling off an Invisibility Cloak.  
  
"Em! What are all of you doing here?"  
  
"Brought the famous Rose Potter a present," Em said. She held out her hand to reveal a figurine of Rose, complete with Firebolt, U.S. robes, and scar. She shrieked.  
  
"You're the ones who had those made, weren't you? Oh no, the Als are poisoning your brain!"  
  
They grinned mischievously.  
  
"Now go before I Banish you!"  
  
They grabbed Firebolts and soared out the open window. Rose rolled her eyes and unpacked her things.  
  
She met everyone else at the stadium half an hour later in the Top Box.  
  
"I wonder what this place looks like from the regular seats," Parvati said thoughtfully.  
  
"Would you rather sit there?" Rose asked.  
  
"No! Just wondering."  
  
The announcer started introducing the team and mascots, and everyone quieted down. The balls were released, and the game began.  
  
The first three scores were America's. The next two were from the Afghans, a nasty looking lot that was all men. They contrasted greatly, men in tan and black and women in red white and blue.  
  
Rose cheered as Emily Grumman did a Wronski Feint and nearly smashed the Afghan Seeker.  
  
"Finally got that right!" she yelled over the wild cheers of the American crowd.  
  
She booed as an Afghan Chaser scored a goal. It was now 30-30. Rose caught the Bernards grinning at each other.  
  
"Uh oh," she muttered under her breath.  
  
Alex and Ally split up, one on each side of the pitch. She saw them poke their wands out of their robes at an Afghan Beater's broom and say something. The opposing Beaters' brooms were suddenly covered in Dragonbombs set to explode. The Beaters didn't notice and kept flying. At least, they didn't notice for thirty seconds.  
  
Two huge Chinese Fireballs exploded from the back of the Afghan's brooms. They flew over the crowd, and then promptly exploded into vivid orange slime, but only covering the Afghan team. A time-out was called as wizards went onto the field to blast away the slime.  
  
When the time-out was over, the American Chasers scored five more goals, making the score 80-30. The Americans were going wild.  
  
Emily Grumman quickly went into a steep dive. The Afghan Seeker was right on her tail.  
  
"Come on, Em," Rose muttered. "Remember, you've gotta act it out. Pretend you're actually holding it, it's beating its wings."  
  
She snatched right above where the Snitch was and held up an invisible ball, pretending to have the Snitch. The Afghan Seeker backed off. Suddenly, Em flew towards the goal hoops and grabbed the actual Snitch.  
  
The crowd went crazy, cheering and stomping. The American team did a victory lap around the stadium and showed off, playing leapfrog a hundred yards in the air.  
  
When they finished their antics, they shot down into the Top Box and were handed the Cup by the American Minister of Magic. Em, who was still holding the Snitch, was asked where she learned that incredible move. She cleared her throat.  
  
"My predecessor taught it to me."  
  
Rose groaned and buried her face in her hands. The Bernards grinned maniacally.  
  
"She spent hours of her days tirelessly teaching me to become a decent Seeker. When I joined this team, I sucked. Absolutely." The crowd laughed. Em smiled along with them. "But this Seeker turned teacher never gave up on me. She invented that move and taught it to me. I would like to give the Snitch to Rose Potter."  
  
The crowd cheered, especially those who had seen Rose play in the quarter- finals and before she started teaching. Many of them had seen the Potter Feint before. Rose, who was bright red, came forward and accepted the Snitch. The Bernards then looked at each other, pointed their wands at their throats and made an announcement.  
  
"We have another announcement to make," Ally began.  
  
"Rosemary Lillian Potter is expecting twin babies due in March!" Alex completed with glee.  
  
Rose screamed and hit them both on the arm. They rubbed their arms and complained about how that was their Beater arm. She said she didn't care.  
  
She didn't talk to them for the rest of their time in Salem.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose was still mad at them when they got back to Hogsmeade and found a Daily Prophet article saying that she was pregnant. She didn't let them come when Harry and Hermione went shopping for their sixth year. She wouldn't let them come to their first day of school, either. But Bill and she did. Hermione didn't mind. Everyone else welcomed her happily. She had been a really fun teacher last year.  
  
Hermione and her friends entered the Great Hall and sat down at their tables. Hermione and Harry had their own table, as they were the Gryffindor prefects. (A/N: If you didn't read my last story, there are only two prefects from each house, a boy and a girl.)  
  
Rose sat at the prefect table with Bill, much to Hermione's pleasure.  
  
"Hermione, who are the other prefects?"  
  
"Well, you know Padma, and the boy from Ravenclaw is Terry Boot. Last year's Ravenclaw girl transferred to the Salem Witches Institute. Susan Bones and Justin Finch-Fletchley are Hufflepuff's, and that's Pansy Parkinson and her new boyfriend Dameon Morkin."  
  
"I thought Pansy and Malfoy were dating"  
  
"She decided to go with someone else as soon as he got expelled. You know, he's going to Durmstrang now?"  
  
"I'm not surprised. It seems like a Malfoy school."  
  
"Seriously."  
  
The Sorting began. The students quieted down so they could hear.  
  
"Anderson, Emily!"  
  
"GRIFFINDOR!"  
  
"Brown, Danielle!"  
  
"RAVENCLAW!"  
  
"That's Lavender's little sister," Hermione whispered.  
  
"Crascer, Ashley!"  
  
"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
  
"Durseley, Dudley!"  
  
The hall hushed. Hermione looked at Harry. He was dead white.  
  
*He's a wizard?!* Hermione frantically asked.  
  
*I-I didn't think so,* Harry stuttered. *I mean- he never showed any signs of- of any magic at all.*  
  
He was terrified. Hermione didn't blame him. She knew what her cousin had done to Harry before. She watched him stride up and place the Sorting Hat on his head. The hat made its decision very quickly.  
  
"SLYTHERIN!"  
  
Dudley smirked and took his place at the Slytherin table. He looked very much like Malfoy when he did that, except a very fat Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle immediately made a place for him.  
  
The Gryffindors sat stunned for the rest of the Sorting. Dumbledore made a few more announcements afterward.  
  
"You may have noticed that we have two slightly older students being Sorted. They are sixth years, however. They were not permitted to come to Hogwarts at first. This was not a fault of theirs. Do not criticize them for it or you shall be severely punished."  
  
"Don't need to punish anybody who messes with him," Harry muttered. "Need to send them to Mungo's."  
  
"Harry, are you all right?" Rose asked. He was dead white.  
  
"Fine, thanks," he mumbled.  
  
Hermione turned around. The other Gryffindor boys were running over to the prefect table.  
  
"Harry, that was your cousin, wasn't it?" Ron asked. He was almost the same shade as Harry. So were the rest of the Gryffindor boys.  
  
"He can't have much talent, can he?" Seamus asked nervously.  
  
"Here's a little tip. Especially for you, Neville. Stay out of his way unless you want to know why he scares me."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose knew the other student Dumbledore had called. Erin O'Connell. She recognized the name. Erin Tara O'Connell was the daughter of the foster parents who had abused her when she was ten years old. She had only been five when Rose had known her, but was already hurting things. Pulling the legs off spiders to see if they could still crawl, dissecting live frogs, stabbing flies with pencils and pulling off their wings. And she was a Slytherin.  
  
Rose looked over and saw her sitting right next to Dudley, kissing up. Rose frowned. Dudley was Muggle-born and a relation of the despised Potters. Why should Slytherins be trying to get him to like them?  
  
Ginny, who had recently come over to the table to comfort Harry, looked over at Rose.  
  
"Rose, is something wrong?"  
  
She smiled. "You tell me." Ginny was empathic, meaning she could sort of tell what was going on around her. Like a sensor beam or something.  
  
"That girl who's nuzzling up to Dudley, isn't it."  
  
Rose looked in their direction, and then quickly looked away.  
  
"I recognized the name. You told me about the O'Connells."  
  
"Don't we have just a happy little crowd, don't we? Durseley and O'Connell."  
  
The others recognized the name O'Connell and turned towards them. Sudden realization dawned across Ron's face.  
  
"Oh. That O'Connell."  
  
"Yeah! Why else would she be so freaked about it?" Ginny said, scowling at her brother. "Honestly, Ron, grow some brains."  
  
He glared at her. The Gryffindors returned to their usual places and finished their dinner.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose found that the professors had left her room in. The portrait of the Potters was still there, but Bill and the rest of the Weaslys had been added in. As a result, the portrait was much larger than when it just held Harry, Rose and Lily and James sr.  
  
She said the password, les lys et les roses, and the portrait swung aside.  
  
The rooms were slightly different than when Rose had been a teacher. The queen size bed was now a king size and there were two bathrooms. But the decorations were still the same, everything in red and gold.  
  
Rose decided to take a bath, this time being extremely careful in charming the door locked.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Bill made sure the door was locked and visited Professor Dumbledore. He had seen Rose's reaction to hearing that Erin was at Hogwarts and Harry's reaction to Dudley. He wanted to know why they had been accepted.  
  
He had reached Professor Dumbledore's office. He used a voice charm to make him sound like Rose and then used her personal clearance.  
  
Dumbledore did not seem surprised to see him. He simply looked up from his paperwork briefly before going back to it.  
  
"You have something to ask me?"  
  
"Why did you let O'Connell and Durseley into Hogwarts?" he demanded.  
  
"They had magical talent. I cannot deprive any witch or wizard from a magical education, no matter how they have treated people in the past."  
  
"What if they shouldn't have magical talent, much less a magical education? Can you imagine what Durseley would do to Harry if he had magic?"  
  
"Mr. Durseley wishes to learn how to perform magic and his current guardian does not disagree."  
  
"Current guardian?"  
  
Dumbledore looked up at Bill. "Mr. Durseley's parents were killed in a car crash in July. Ms. O'Connell's mother is dead and her father is in Azkaban."  
  
Bill was stunned. "But then why didn't the O'Connells want their daughter at Hogwarts?"  
  
"She has spent her previous school years at Durmstrang. Her mother wanted her at Beauxbatons and her father wanted her at Hogwarts. So they compromised."  
  
"What about Durseley?"  
  
"His parents knew when Harry was accepted. Some of those letters Harry didn't see- they were for Dudley. They hushed it up, but I believe he always did want to go."  
  
"But why let him?"  
  
"We've been over this. You are not going to win this. Don't try."  
  
Bill scowled and left.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry couldn't sleep. How could he? He kept seeing Dudley twisting his arms behind his back while Vernon punched Harry, Dudley learning the Dark Arts, Dudley doing Cruciatus on him.  
  
The last vision, of Dudley using Cruciatus on him, made his scar hurt. He rubbed it a bit, then realized it wasn't the only thing tingling. His upper right arm felt like there were tiny sparks dancing over it. He saw Ron roll over and grab his scar, then disappear.  
  
Harry stared, and then shrugged. It was worth a try. He touched the tattoo of a golden phoenix, which he noticed was now glowing. He felt like he was being blown by a light breeze, and slowly the sixth year boys' dorm sifted away like blowing sand, replaced by his house.  
  
He looked around. The other Golds were there. Ginny, Fred, George, Alex, Ally, Padma, Parvati, Hermione, Ron, Rose, and.Bill.  
  
Harry looked at him in astonishment. "You're Gold?"  
  
"Went up a level last year when I died. Don't know how that makes you go up a level, though."  
  
"We added rings for him and Ginny. He's bronze, Ginny's teal," Rose said. Then she saw the Bernards, and frowned.  
  
"Rose," Bill warned her. "They're Gold too. They have to come when they're called."  
  
Rose's frown turned into a scowl. She picked up a box of robes made of gold silk and held them out.  
  
"We're going to see the High," she said. "Out these on. They'll cover your pajamas."  
  
Everyone slipped on a robe. Harry noticed that they had a phoenix in color on the back.  
  
"And if you have a pet, call it. The High want us to bring them for some reason."  
  
Harry heard hooting, bird song and mewing. When he looked in that direction, he was amazed to see everyone's pets. Harry held out his arms. James, his phoenix, jumped onto the right and Hedwig flew onto the left. Rose looked like a statue with Lily and Starsong, her two female phoenixes, and her cat Godric clinging to her head.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose was not pleased that the High had called them so late. She also was not pleased that Godric had his claws dug into her hair. But there was nothing she could do about it, seeing as Lily and Starsong were clinging to her arms.  
  
Lily pecked at Godric and hopped onto the other arm with Lily and Godric got the picture. He jumped onto Rose's arm and clung there.  
  
"Step into this circle and careful you don't mess up the line."  
  
Rose drew a shimmering golden circle in the dirt about six feet in diameter with her toe. The Golds stepped into it and immediately were sitting in their seats in the Hall of the High.  
  
"Welcome, Golds," the High said. "I understand that this is the first time your brother and his friends have come here, Mrs. Potter."  
  
She stood. "Yes. I would like to introduce you to Virginia Weasly, Frederick Weasly, George Weasly, Alexa Bernard, Alice Bernard, Padma Patil, Parvati Patil, Ronald Weasly, Hermione Granger, Harrison Potter, and William Potter."  
  
(A/N: Rose and Bill took Rose's last name)  
  
"Welcome. I am to introduce you to the High you will be working with. The first you know, Ms. Minerva McGonagall."  
  
Professor McGonagall smiled at the Golds from her seat at the High Table. Rose smiled at the looks on the students' faces.  
  
"The other you already know somewhat, your guardian."  
  
Crookshanks jumped off Hermione's lap, across the table, and landed neatly in the seat next to McGonagall, where she transformed into a young woman that looked much like McGonagall, except about thirty and had bright red hair, almost the same shade as the Weasly's.  
  
"This is Gretchen McGonagall, younger sister of Minerva McGonagall."  
  
Everyone but Rose, Bill, Alex and Ally stared.  
  
The man talking to them chuckled. "The third person is Emily Grumman, whom I believe you are acquainted with."  
  
Rose's and Harry's jaws dropped as Hedwig flew to another empty seat and turned into the current American Seeker. Emily was a High?!  
  
"The fourth I am certain you know. One Severus Snape."  
  
This time everyone but Rose was shocked as Severus Snape appeared in the last empty chair with a loud pop! He was not wearing the gold robes, instead his customary black, making him stand out. Rose glared at him.  
  
*Would you please try some different clothes next time? You look like a bat.*  
  
He glared back at her. *Rosemary Lillian. I have told you never to insult me. You will regret it.*  
  
*Finally you show some signs of any advancement in power.*  
  
He was at the official Death Stare now. Rose was matching it.  
  
"Rose, could you please stop it?" Harry whispered. "Let's just listen to what they have to say."  
  
She nodded. The High who had been talking to them earlier started speaking to them again.  
  
"We have seen Erin O'Connell's and Dudley Durseley's entry into Hogwarts. We do not believe that they are trustworthy." He turned to the students. "Stay away from him at all costs." He looked at Rose, Bill, the Weasly twins and the Bernards. "Stay with them at Hogwarts for about another month. Keep them away from O'Connell and Durseley. No revenge for past deeds. We need to see what they are doing. You killing them could destroy the entire plan."  
  
"What plan?" Alex boldly asked.  
  
"We need to watch them. We want to know why they suddenly began attending Hogwarts. Alexa, Alice, you will be in charge of watching them at Hogwarts."  
  
Rose tried to control her anger. The empaths, she reminded herself. The empaths can tell how I feel about this. And sure enough, Gretchen McGonagall and Ginny both looked her way just slightly. But still! She wanted to watch them! She was the one with a personal interest.  
  
One of the empaths must have told the other High that she wanted to be the one in charge.  
  
"Rosemary, we did not choose you to be in charge of this particular project because of your current.state."  
  
That did not do anything to help her anger. Her emerald eyes had begun turning violet. She struggled to keep her anger showing in her voice.  
  
"Excuse me, sir, but I believe my current 'condition' has nothing to do with what is at hand."  
  
"It has everything to do with it," the man said cryptically. Rose saw Gretchen lean over and whisper to Minerva McGonagall. Minerva straightened.  
  
"You must leave now; another situation has come up. We must speak with the Silvers."  
  
The blowing sound started again, and Rose was back in her room with Bill. She was still fuming. 


	4. Babies and the InterHouse Championship

The Children of the Unicorn  
  
Chapter 4  
  
The next months passed quickly. Gryffindor won the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw in November 320-30, thanks to six superb new players, selected by Harry, the captain, and Harry's new Feints. They figured Hufflepuff would be easy. They had the same team members from last year, who had not scored a single goal all last year. It was Christmas before Harry knew it.  
  
They had decided to have another Christmas Ball, as they had been so popular the previous years. The normal couples went. Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione, Padma and Seamus, Dean and Parvati. They all agreed that Hogwarts seemed so boring without Fred and George, so the Gryffindors petitioned to invite them and the newly triumphant Alex and Ally (America had won its first game of the season). Dumbledore agreed, much to the displeasure of other teachers (whom we will just call Shnape).  
  
Ginny was panicking the day of the ball. She needed makeup, jewelry, a hairdo, shoes, a perfect colored robe, a dress to go with the robe.  
  
"Hermione, what's that spell Padma wrote? The one that will change this robe into the perfect color for my hair, eyes and complexion." Ginny held up dress robes she had borrowed from Hermione. "Because I just don't look good in spring green."  
  
"Here it is; I wrote it down." Hermione pulled a slip of parchment and her wand from her pocket. "Colore perfetti tessuto!" The robes turned to a silky, cream-colored satin.  
  
"What about a dress?"  
  
"Try pink."  
  
"With my hair?!"  
  
"Okay, um.gold. Here."  
  
Hermione tossed Ginny a gold gown. Ginny squealed.  
  
"Ooh, it's perfect! But what about makeup?"  
  
"Maquillage!"  
  
Ginny ran to the mirror. Her face was perfectly made up.  
  
"Where do you learn these?"  
  
"Rose and me. I find them in books or I write them. Fixe cabelo!"  
  
Ginny looked in a mirror. Her hair was in two braids that were joined together at the nape of her neck.  
  
"Perfect! Shoes?"  
  
"Anpassende souliers!"  
  
"Jewelry?"  
  
"Here, just take the paper."  
  
"Okay. Joias perfeitas! There! Done!"  
  
Ginny looked at herself. She had to admit, those spells were really good. The gold off-the-shoulder dress accented the robes perfectly, and the robes set off her hair, which in addition to the Queen Anne braids was also sprinkled with tiny rhinestones. The shoes were high heels the same color as her robes with a strap right above her toes and around her ankle. Her nails were painted the same color as the dress. The jewelry was a pair of dangly crystal earrings that brushed her neck, a pearl necklace, and a pearl bracelet with a single crystal in the center.  
  
"It's perfect!"  
  
"I think I'm going to match."  
  
Hermione used the spells on herself, ending up in clothes, hair and jewelry identical to Ginny's except with heather gray silk robes and a white dress. The other girls all decided to match when they saw them.  
  
The boys had apparently taken their girlfriends' advice. They matched their dates perfectly. Ginny took the arm Harry awkwardly offered her.  
  
"Who's Neville going with? I know it's someone."  
  
"A Hufflepuff, Hannah Abbott."  
  
"I know her! They'll be really cute together."  
  
They continued talking all the way down to the Great Hall.  
  
"Wow," Ron said, gazing at the decorations.  
  
"They're beautiful," Ginny said in awe.  
  
Instead of the usual four house tables, there were dozens of smaller tables spread out around the edges of the r Great Hall. The tables had been enchanted to look like they were made of ice, and holly had been spread out along them. There were ice sculptures with wreaths around them, and there were garlands everywhere. The customary trees were there, of course.  
  
"Where's Hagrid?" Hermione said, looking around the room.  
  
"Out in the garden," Neville said. He had apparently just come from there with Hannah. "With Madame Maxime."  
  
"No! She left the school to come here?"  
  
"I suppose. How else could she have gotten here?"  
  
Hannah tugged on his sleeve and whispered something in his ear. He smiled and left for the dance floor. The others followed.  
  
After an hour, they stopped for drinks. They pushed several tables together so they could all talk.  
  
"Why isn't Rose here?" Padma asked.  
  
"She said she couldn't fit into any decent robes anymore. She was moping in her room, last I checked," Hermione said.  
  
"She looks too pregnant. I've seen her," Ally said.  
  
Everyone laughed. "I heard that, Bernard," a voice said from behind them.  
  
Rose was smirking at Alex from behind Alex's chair. Everyone was staring at her, because Ally was right, she did look very pregnant.  
  
"Rose, I thought you said you didn't fit into any of your robes," Hermione said.  
  
"I shopped. But Bill couldn't come, he has a cold."  
  
Suddenly George pretended to be having a heart attack. Everyone stared.  
  
"Rose.and a Bernard.are talking.to each other." he choked out. Ally rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers.  
  
"Snap out of it."  
  
He recovered, grinning with his own wit.  
  
"You are so lame."  
  
"Thank you!"  
  
"Rose, why did you come, anyways?"  
  
"I'm dead bored. Sitting on my ass in my room can get a little boring after a while."  
  
"Hey, you're not hurling every morning anymore."  
  
"Good thing, too."  
  
"Hello, Rose," Professor McGonagall said from behind them. "I didn't know you were going to come."  
  
"Oh, hello, Mother. I wasn't, but I got bored."  
  
"Don't' let your aunt see you."  
  
She laughed. She called her other godmother Aunt Poppy. "Of course not. But I believe Dad has."  
  
Professor Snape was striding towards their table.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose was relieved to see that he didn't look mad.  
  
"Rosemary," he said. "I wasn't aware you were attending."  
  
"Neither was I until half an hour ago. I got bored, and Bill has a cold."  
  
"I see."  
  
Suddenly Rose saw Harry go pale.  
  
"Harry, what is it?"  
  
He nodded in the direction he was looking. Rose followed his gaze.  
  
Dudley and Erin were dancing towards their table.  
  
"Run, he'll crush it," Ron said. They scattered just before Dudley "accidentally" knocked their table over.  
  
"Oops," Erin giggled in a high voice. Rose's acute hearing heard Dudley whisper something to Harry.  
  
"Better run, before I beat up you and your fat bitchy sister."  
  
Ron heard, too and went red. Harry just turned sort of grey. He left for the ice garden set up outside the Great Hall with Ginny. Rose's eyes turned violet, but even so she grabbed Ron's robes as he lunged for Dudley.  
  
"No," she whispered fiercely. "Remember what the High said."  
  
Rose noticed Hermione place her hand on his shoulder and talk to him. He relaxed, and Rose let go. Hermione followed Harry and Ginny into the ice garden with Ron.  
  
Rose decided she'd had enough. If she stayed down here any longer she would blow something up or Avada Dudley or Erin. She left the Great Hall and went through her personal portrait hole.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Erin and Dudley laughed at how stupid the Golds were being.  
  
"She actually mentioned the High in a public place," Erin laughed.  
  
"How stupid could you get?"  
  
They laughed uproariously for about thirty seconds.  
  
"What was that?" Dudley asked nervously.  
  
"You've never felt it before," Erin explained haughtily. "Look at your arm."  
  
They pulled up their left sleeves to reveal a skull with a serpent coming out its mouth. It was black and smoking.  
  
"Touch it," Erin said. They did, and suddenly vanished into the night.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose woke up late the next morning. She rolled over and her face pressed against something lying on Bill's pillow. She opened her eyes and picked it up, thankful for the Vision Charm that had perfected her vision last year.  
  
The note said:  
  
Rose-  
  
Went back to the house for a little something. I'll be back at around eleven.  
  
Love, Bill  
  
Rose smiled. It was Christmas! She rolled out of bed and hurriedly got dressed to see Harry.  
  
When she got to the Gryffindor sixth year boys' dorm, everyone was still asleep. She decided to play a nasty little trick. She snuck up on her brother, silently pulled back the hangings of his four-poster, and-  
  
"BOO!"  
  
He yelled. Rose cracked up. Harry glared at her.  
  
"Not funny, Rose. Not funny."  
  
"Yes it was."  
  
The other boys had woken up.  
  
"What's going on?" Ron yawned. Then he saw Rose. "Oh, good morning, Rose."  
  
"Come on," she said, tugging Harry's hand like a little girl. "You have presents."  
  
The boys immediately jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs. Rose followed at a slower pace and saw the boys already ripping at the wrapping paper.  
  
"Harry, mine's the one in the Quidditch paper," she called down, descending the staircase. He nodded.  
  
"Good morning, Rose," Hermione said from behind them. She was accompanied by Parvati and Lavender Brown. Rose pointed down the stairs.  
  
"Presents."  
  
The girls ran down the stairs two at a time.  
  
"I'd better not have only baby clothes," Rose said.  
  
"You shouldn't," Hermione said. "I saw what some of 'other people' got you." She glanced meaningfully at Ron and Harry.  
  
"I'd better get back to my room. Bill should be back by now. He'd stopped by the house to get me 'something.'"  
  
She opened the portrait hole and returned to her room. Bill was waiting for her with a big smile on his face and his hands behind his back.  
  
"Got you something."  
  
"Ooh, what?"  
  
He shyly held out a small box. Rose eagerly took it and gently peeled off the wrapping paper to reveal a white box. Inside the box was a simple Celtic cross necklace.  
  
Rose gasped. "Bill, where did you get this?"  
  
"Professor Dumbledore. He gave it to me five years ago, when I started dating you. I've been holding it ever since."  
  
"But I mean do you know whose it was?"  
  
He shook his head. "Dumbledore didn't tell me."  
  
Rose smiled painfully. "It was my mother's. I can remember playing with it when I was a little baby. She never took it off. Dad gave it to her."  
  
"Here, I'll put it on for you."  
  
She held up her hair and Bill wrapped the chain around her neck and fastened the clasp. She looked at herself in the mirror.  
  
"It looks beautiful. Thank you so much!"  
  
She kissed him.  
  
"Here, I might have a little something for you too," she said slyly, pulling a wrapped package from her dresser drawer. He took it happily and began tearing off the paper. There was a flat stone inside. Bill looked at her quizzically.  
  
"It lets you see where anyone in your family is. Just tap it with your wand and say that person's name. Harry's got one just like it."  
  
"Thanks!"  
  
"We'd better get to the rest of these presents or we'll never finish."  
  
"Right."  
  
They began dismantling their mountains of gifts. Rose got a gold collar for Godric from the Bernards with his name in rubies, a baby-sized dress and suit from all her godparents, five books from Hermione, CDs from Harry for her magical CD player, assorted Honeydukes candy from Ron, which he seemed to give to everybody, prank supplies and a copy of I Don't Need No Education from Fred and George, and baby toys from the Patils.  
  
"Whew!" she said, after emerging from the pile. "I'm going up to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw to thank everybody."  
  
And she did so. Everyone was already using the things she had gotten them. Ron was scarfing down Chocolate Frogs like there was no tomorrow, Hermione was reading Advanced Arithmancy, with Advanced Potions, Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts, Advanced Charms, Advanced Transfiguration, Unusual and Rare Magical Beasts, and Standard Book of Spells: Grade 100 next to her. She simply nodded at her cousin. Harry was using the All-Purpose Polishing Kit on his wand and Firebolt, and Parvati was trying on her new robes.  
  
Happy to see that all the Gryffindors were happy, Rose went to Ravenclaw, where Padma thanked her very enthusiastically for her new robes.  
  
After thanking everyone, she called the Fred, George and the Bernards to a spot just outside of the Forest.  
  
"I've got a plan," she whispered. Everyone sat up. Rose's last plan had been.amusing, to say the least.  
  
"You know that Muggle CD you gave me?" she said to the Bernards. They nodded. "I've got a Muggle CD player I enchanted to work here. There's a staff meeting today. We take the boom box, load in the CD, and blast it at top volume outside of the meeting. It'll be awesome!"  
  
They nodded enthusiastically and went to round up the other Golds. In half an hour, they were outside the staff room with the CD and boom box loaded.  
  
Rose smothered a giggle with her hand and pressed PLAY.  
  
"HEY, TEACHERS, LEAVE THEM KIDS ALONE!" blasted at the top volume. Everyone covered their ears and scattered. Rose, obliged to move at a slightly slower pace, followed. She ducked behind a statue just as Snape burst out of the staff room.  
  
"Who's playing that?" he yelled. Rose clapped a hand over her mouth to hide another laugh. Unfortunately, Snape heard the smack.  
  
"Who's there?"  
  
*Uh oh, Rosie.*  
  
*Bernard, I told you never to call me that.*  
  
"Ah, hello, Rosemary."  
  
Rose jumped. Snape was a foot away from her. She grinned sheepishly.  
  
"Revenge for all those detentions."  
  
He gave her the Death Stare and strode off, forgetting to turn off the music. Someone snatched the boom box and ran.  
  
Once safely away from the staff room, everyone broke into hilarious laughter.  
  
"Did you see his face?"  
  
"It looked like he would explode!"  
  
They laughed again before Rose told them to get back to their rooms. They opted to have a snowball fight all day instead. Rose watched from her window.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Gryffindor won against Hufflepuff in January 610-0. The party celebrating their appearance in the playoffs against Slytherin lasted until five a.m., much to the displeasure of the teachers. Harry was being pelted with letters from Wood, telling him the marvelous job he was doing as captain and congratulating him on being an uncle. Harry didn't show Rose that one.  
  
Rose had returned to her house after a blizzard in mid January. No one really minded. Everyone was busy studying for the exams in the spring, particularly Ginny. Hermione was helping her with her homework until quite late at night, causing them both to be rather snappish. Rose was also not the most pleasant to be around.  
  
The morning of February 14, Harry was awakened by Ginny shaking his shoulder.  
  
"Harry!" she shrieked. "Where's that stone you got? Check Rose!"  
  
Harry was immediately worried. He dug through his trunk until he found it. But when he tapped it and said, "Rosemary Potter!" it simply turned bright yellow.  
  
"Is that good?" he asked Ginny nervously.  
  
"Yes, yes!" Ginny squealed. Her voice was higher than ever. "That's very, very, good!" She bounded into the sixth year girls' dorm to wake up Hermione and Parvati.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Hermione groaned as Ginny shook her shoulder.  
  
"Wake up, Mione!"  
  
"Not yet, it's a Saturday."  
  
"Rose had the twins!"  
  
That got her attention. "Really? How'd you find out? How much do they weigh? What's their length?"  
  
"I don't know. I had Harry check his stone."  
  
"Oh. Come on, let's wake everyone else!"  
  
They ran through the room, waking everyone who knew and liked Rose and told them. They then hastily threw on clothes and met the boys in the hallway.  
  
After several minutes of confusion, everyone ran to Professor Dumbledore for permission to see her.  
  
"Professor, can we please go see her? It's a Saturday, we don't have any classes."  
  
He held up his hand. "I anticipated your requests. You will find a Portkey over there."  
  
There was a mad rush to grab the Portkey. Ginny got it and held it out. Everyone quickly put a finger on it and felt that familiar jerk and they were in St. Mungo's. They asked the clerk for directions and eagerly ran up the stairs.  
  
They ran into the Bernards and the Weasly twins just outside the stairwell.  
  
"Fred, where's Rose?" Ginny demanded breathlessly.  
  
He grinned. "Who's Rose? I don't know any Rose." He looked around. George and the Bernards nodded. Ginny went red.  
  
"Frederick Joseph Weasly! Tell me where she is, they're my niece and nephew too!"  
  
They silently pointed to a door across the hall and everyone walked in slightly slower.  
  
Bill smiled at them from where he was looking into a crib. Rose was sleeping.  
  
"Line up, please, ladies and gentleman," George said from the door.  
  
"Five Galleons per person," Fred added.  
  
"Shut up, Weasly!" everyone said. They backed up and let them in.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry approached the crib cautiously. Bill smiled at him and picked up one of the twins.  
  
"This is Lily," he said.  
  
Lily had a lot of hair, auburn red of course. She was sleeping.  
  
"Green eyes, right?" Harry asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Where's James?"  
  
"Right here."  
  
Hermione came forward and took Lily, and the other girls promptly began exclaiming over how cute she was. Harry took James. He looked like, well, James. He had lots of messy black hair. When he opened his eyes, Harry noticed his flashing green eyes.  
  
"Oh, he's so cute!" Parvati squealed. The other girls soon noticed James and started comparing James and Lily.  
  
"I think they have the same nose."  
  
"It's the Evans nose."  
  
"They definitely have the same eyes."  
  
"Oh, Lily's awake?"  
  
"Yeah, see her eyes?"  
  
"Yeah. They definitely have the same eyes."  
  
"Hello, everybody." Rose had woken up. She was sitting up in her bed, looking at all the people. "Gimme Lily."  
  
Hermione handed her Lily.  
  
"She looks just like you!" Ginny said. Rose smiled.  
  
"Here, Lily, that's your uncle Harry, that's your annoying uncles Fred and George, that's cousin Mione, that's aunt Ginny, and that's Daddy holding James."  
  
Lily opened her eyes wide at her twin and smiled. The girls squealed and cooed, mainly because James was doing the same thing at Lily.  
  
"Uber-phoenixes," Rose joked. "Uber-heirs."  
  
"What time were they born?" Padma asked.  
  
"They were six minutes apart. Lily was born at three forty-four, James at three fifty."  
  
"How much do they weigh?"  
  
"Lily's bigger, seven pounds eight ounces. James was the shrimp, five pounds fourteen."  
  
"Five pounds?!"  
  
"Almost six."  
  
"How long are they?"  
  
"Exactly the same. Nineteen inches."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Outside the hospital room, Erin O'Connell hovered, listening to Rose and her friends.  
  
"Idiots," she muttered. "Uber-phoenixes, uber-heirs. Say it just a little louder and the Dark Lord himself could hear it."  
  
She snickered and Disapparated to the Dark Lord's hiding place. She bowed as she approached him.  
  
"My lord, the twins have been born. When shall the plan begin?"  
  
"In June," Lord Voldemort whispered. He seemed to sense Erin's impatience. "Don't worry, Erin," he hissed softly. "Soon. Very soon."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose returned home four days later, much to her pleasure. Her godparents had been flitting around everywhere, pestering her for news of who were the twins' godparents. Rose had to have them banned from the hospital.  
  
She had decided on a godfather, Harry, of course. But she was stuck between Ginny and Hermione. Harry had already agreed, and she knew that both the girls would be pleased. But Hermione was around more often.  
  
"Rose, who's the twins' godmother?" Ron asked. He kept continuously asking her.  
  
"Ronald Weasly! I don't know!"  
  
"Okay, okay. Just asking."  
  
*Hermione.*  
  
"Oh!"  
  
"Shh!"  
  
Hermione was visiting the house. Professor Dumbledore had given Rose's friends and family group a week off school, much to the dismay of Hermione.  
  
"Hello, Hermione."  
  
"I the twins something," she said shyly. She held out a flat package wrapped in plain white tissue paper.  
  
"Thank you." Rose peeled off the paper. Inside was a children's book. Hermione smiled.  
  
"Figured you could start them off early," she mumbled. Rose smiled.  
  
"I love it! Thank you!"  
  
She hugged her cousin.  
  
"Here, would you like to hold Lily?" She nodded. "Here she is."  
  
Lily was sleeping again. Hermione took her gently.  
  
"Aw. She's so adorable when she's asleep! Look at her eyelashes! They're so long and thick."  
  
"Baby lashes. I'm desperate to have them."  
  
Hermione laughed. "Have you decided on godparents?"  
  
"Yes, I have. Their godfather is Harry. I thought.you might like to be godmother."  
  
"Of course! Thank you!" Hermione would have hugged her, but she was still holding Lily.  
  
"What's her middle name again?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Molly. And James's is Arthur."  
  
"So they're named after their grandparents. That's so sweet!"  
  
"Speaking of grandparents. Cornelius Fudge resigned."  
  
"That's great! But who's going to be the new minister?"  
  
"You'll never guess who's running for office against Lucius Malfoy."  
  
Hermione gasped. "No! Mr. Weasly?"  
  
"Yep. Molly told me when she came to visit."  
  
"Oh, no. I can imagine how that must have been. 'Oh, look at my little grandbabies!'"  
  
"Exactly. She fawned all over them."  
  
"Hi, Rose," Ginny said from the door.  
  
"Oh, hello Ginny."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Ginny hadn't expected Hermione to be there. She had wanted to talk to Rose alone.  
  
"Can I talk to you for a second?"  
  
"Sure." Rose handed James to Bill and followed Hermione into the library. They sat down in some of the chairs.  
  
"You've been thinking about the dream, haven't you?" she asked quietly. Rose looked surprised for a moment.  
  
"I should've guessed you would figure it out. I should've learned that it's useless to try to keep things from empaths."  
  
"Professor Dumbledore asked me to tell you this." Rose groaned. "He wants you to stay in the house unless Bill or Sirius or Fred or George is with you."  
  
"In short, not without half of England. If Bill comes, he'll bring the twins, if the twins come, they'll bring the Bernards, if the Bernards come, they'll make Sirius come, if Sirius comes, he'll bring Gretchen, if Gretchen comes, she'll bring-"  
  
"Gretchen?!"  
  
Rose looked surprised. "I thought you knew about that. They're dating."  
  
Ginny's jaw dropped. "Sirius is dating?!"  
  
"Has been for a while. You didn't know?"  
  
"But they only met in what, December?"  
  
"They dated in school, but had to break up when Sirius got thrown into Azkaban, of course. They started dating again when Sirius was pardoned last year."  
  
"That's so cool! He's actually developing a life!"  
  
"I've always had a life," Sirius said from behind a bookcase.  
  
"Hello, Daddy," Rose said.  
  
"Ginny, who's on the Quidditch team this year, anyways? Your boyfriend never told me."  
  
Ginny went red. "The Chasers are Ron, a fourth year named Daniel Johnstone and Hermione. The Beaters are these two third years, Charles Johnson and Danielle Anderson. The Keeper is, uh."  
  
"Go on."  
  
"Me," she said in a small voice.  
  
"That's great! When's the next match?"  
  
"May."  
  
"I'm coming," Rose announced. "And so is the entire American national team. They got bored because they know they can beat England at the next game, so they've canceled practices for a while."  
  
"America's playing England? Oh, no. They must be completely torn."  
  
"Not me. God bless America!" Rose yelled.  
  
"Ginny," Hermione said from the door. "We need to go practice! Harry wants us on the pitch in twenty minutes."  
  
"Bye Rose!" Ginny said. Hermione gave Lily back to Rose and ran after Ginny.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry was driving the team crazy, and he knew it. Slytherin had recently rebuilt its entire team, and this time around the captain had gone for talent instead of size or money. They were good, and Harry knew it would be a challenge to defeat them.  
  
"We've got to get this right by May," he told them determinedly. "I'm not Wood. I'm not going to make you sit through long speeches. I'm in favor of the 'do' strategy. So let's practice!"  
  
Everyone cheered and rose into the air. Gryffindor had a very good chance, seeing as Rose had recently given the entire team Firebolts, courtesy of the American Eagles.  
  
The practice went perfectly. Harry's Chasers had been practicing. A lot. Rose surprised everyone by turning up with Bill and the twins, who seemed to enjoy watching Quidditch.  
  
"Well, you can definitely tell they're Potters!" Harry laughed.  
  
"They're going to be excellent Quidditch players when they get older. They've got a brilliant Seeker for their godfather and uncle, two excellent Beaters for uncles, and two possible aunts as Beaters. Oh, and a possible Keeper for an aunt."  
  
Harry glared at her, but it didn't work well when he was turning red.  
  
"Stoppit," he mumbled. Rose laughed evilly.  
  
"Why's Rose cackling?" Ginny asked as she landed next to Harry.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
*Reminder, Harry. She's empathic,* Rose said. Harry could hear her smirking.  
  
"Fine, I'll drop it," she said.  
  
"I've got to go. I just brought the twins up here so they could visit their evil uncle," Rose said.  
  
"Which evil uncle?" Hermione said. She glanced meaningfully at Harry. Suddenly Harry realized something horrible.  
  
"I just realized that if Snape's their uncle and I'm their uncle that would make Snape and me brothers!"  
  
"Agh!" Ron said, pretending to have a heart attack. "They'll kill each other!"  
  
Everyone laughed. The twins even smiled a bit.  
  
*~*~*  
  
The night before the Quidditch finals, all of Gryffindor stayed up discussing the game. They all talked about the new team.  
  
"The new Keeper's that hot girl Erin O'Connell," a seventh year said. "Too bad she's a Slytherin. She's captain, too. She put her boyfriend, you know, the other new kid, Dudley Durseley, for Keeper. His waist nearly goes across all three goalposts. The Chasers are Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode. Crabbe and Goyle are Beaters."  
  
"And I thought he was going for skill," Dean snorted.  
  
"Seems half the team is over three hundred pounds," Seamus added.  
  
"But that O'Connell girl sure is real hot," Dean said. Harry punched him in the arm.  
  
"She is not."  
  
"You have to say that. Your sister hates her," the seventh year said.  
  
"For good reason. Come on, team, bed!"  
  
To his surprise, they obeyed.  
  
He woke the next morning to Ron shaking him.  
  
"Come on, Harry! You have to get breakfast before the match!"  
  
"Harry jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes. He and Ron rushed down to the Great Hall, where the girls stared at them, looking perfect, of course.  
  
"Eat, Mione," Ron said. He was shoveling food into his mouth at the speed of light. "You too, Ginny."  
  
"Oh, I'm second, am I?" she said, pretending to be offended.  
  
"Not to me," Harry said. Hermione awed.  
  
"Aw. That's so sweet!"  
  
Ron rolled his eyes, careful to make sure Hermione didn't see.  
  
"Ron, if you eat at that speed, you're going to make yourself hurl."  
  
He grinned sheepishly and ate a little slower.  
  
"Is Rose coming?" Parvati asked.  
  
"Yes, she is coming, and yes, she is bringing the twins. Bill and the Beater group are coming."  
  
They had started referred to the Alex-Ally-Fred-George group as the Beater group, as it took to long to name them all.  
  
"Come on, we need to get down to the pitch," Harry told the team. They hurriedly pushed in their chairs and rushed to the field.  
  
Half an hour later, the Harry was shaking hands with O'Connell, continuing the Gryffindor team captain's tradition of trying to break the Slytherin captain's hand. O'Connell simply smirked and nearly crushed his. Harry had carefully used his left hand, instead of his Snitch hand to shake hers.  
  
"A clean game!" Madame Hooch said. "No cheating!" She stared directly at O'Connell, who gave her an innocent stare. Madame Hooch opened the trunk holding the balls and let them out.  
  
Immediately, Gryffindor took possession of the Quaffle.  
  
"Granger passes the Quaffle to Weasly! Weasly to Johnstone! Back to Weasly! Weasly passes to Granger and.Gryffindor scores!"  
  
Hermione had managed to get the Quaffle past Dudley when he had paused to keep from falling off the broom. Ron gave her a high five as they flew past each other.  
  
"Slytherin has the Quaffle! Bulstrode! Parkinson! Back to Bulstrode! Zabini! Parkinson! Zabini! Oh, and an excellent save by the Gryffindor Keeper!"  
  
Ginny had used her broom tail to whack the Quaffle to Hermione. Erin glared at her with hate.  
  
"Granger passes to Weasly! Oh, watch out Weasly that's a Bludger- oh, excellent, Miss Anderson! Weasly passes to Johnstone and back to Weasly! Gryffindor scores again!"  
  
Gryffindor scored eight more times and Slytherin three. The Slytherins were definitely starting to panic. Except for O'Connell, who was just overwhelmed with hatred.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Ginny was getting uncomfortable. Thanks to her empathic sense, she could feel how much O'Connell hated her. She was furious that a Weasly was so good at a wizarding sport. She was fuming at Hermione.  
  
Ginny snapped out of her thoughts in time to bat the Quaffle away from her precious goalposts and to her brother. The team members who were telepathic remained in contact with each other at all times.  
  
*Nice save, Ginny,* Harry commented.  
  
*Mione, on your left. Bludger headed for your arm.* Hermione swerved.  
  
*Watch out for O'Connell. She hates us. I mean more than usual,* Ginny warned. *Especially you, Hermione. She's mad that a Muggle-born could manage to be so good at a wizarding sport.*  
  
*Ooh, little.I'll show her.*  
  
Hermione then proceeded to score three more times, leaving them at 130-30. The Slytherins were furious. Ginny could feel it.  
  
Gryffindor scored another seven times and Slytherin five, putting them at 200-80. The Slytherins began cheating just slightly, scoring several more times, leaving them 200-100. Harry and O'Connell were desperate to find the Snitch. They needed to find it soon. It was starting to get dark.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry was getting frustrated with O'Connell, so he decided it was time for a little Feint.  
  
Pretending to see the Snitch, Harry went into a steep dive. The gullible O'Connell followed him. Just as they were about to hit the ground, Harry pulled up, his feet brushing the ground. O'Connell wasn't so lucky. Harry heard a loud crack as the toe of her shoe caught the ground. She swore.  
  
Harry smirked and went higher, still looking for the Snitch. He didn't have much time left; the sun was going down.  
  
But in the dim light of the sunset, he could just barely see a small glimmer of gold lurking near the Gryffindor goalposts. He dove straight at it.  
  
O'Connell, believing it to be another Wronski Feint, ignored him until it was just too late. Harry grabbed the Snitch from where it was lurking near Ginny's shoulder.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose was thrilled. She hadn't seen a game this good since the Cup! She handed both twins to Bill and went to congratulate her brother.  
  
"That was awesome!" she yelled over the crowd. "Lemme see the cup!"  
  
He handed her the gold trophy, and she looked it over.  
  
"This is awesome!" she said again. "I wish I could go to the party, but it's probably going to last until six a.m. I hate to think of the house if I left Daddy and Bill there until six a.m."  
  
Harry laughed and ran to Gryffindor Tower with the rest of the team. Rose went back to Bill and her godparents and persuaded them to let her stay the night in her rooms.  
  
"If Bill comes," Sirius said. "And I suppose you won't leave the twins with me."  
  
"Course not. You don't know where the formula is."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"You'd drink it."  
  
Rose left for her rooms with Bill and the twins.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose was right. The party did last until six. Actually, it lasted all night. The Weaslys turned up with the Bernards to show off some new snacks and prank supplies they had been testing, causing several people to turn into skunks. Professor McGonagall made the stop when one of them "accidentally" sprayed the fire out.  
  
Everyone went to bed at ten a.m. the next morning and slept until nine the next morning. Harry went down to Rose's room with Hermione, Ron and Ginny to visit.  
  
He noticed that the twins had been added to the portrait of the Potters. Lily Potter (his mother, not the baby) asked him for the password.  
  
"Bricoler des jumeaux."  
  
The portrait swung aside and they walked through.  
  
"Rose?" Harry called. "Bill?"  
  
No one answered. Harry got a bad feeling. The last time he had gotten that feeling, Rose's shoulder had gotten nearly torn off by a shark.  
  
"Getting that feeling again?" he asked. They all knew what he meant.  
  
"Yeah." They nodded.  
  
"Come on, let's stay together. We look through every room."  
  
It took them a while. The rooms were very large, and had been expanded when the twins were born. They didn't find anything until the sitting room.  
  
"Over here," Ginny called.  
  
They ran over to where Ginny was kneeling. She silently held out her hand.  
  
Lying in her palm was a Celtic cross, splattered with blood. 


	5. Won't He Ever Leave Them Alone?

Dang, this was a really short fic! But then the chappies are much longer. Keep checking for sequel info, I'm gonna finish all their years at Hogwarts! So there's gonna be 2 more fics after this! Yay!  
  
Children of the Unicorn  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Ginny was a panicked mess.  
  
"Oh my God, I can't believe this," she sobbed. "They're all gone! Look, the twins are gone, Bill's gone, Rose's gone. We'll never find them!"  
  
Hermione had managed to remain calm. "Ginny, just calm down. We'll find her. She has a Secret-Keeper, right? We'll just figure out which of us is her Secret-Keeper."  
  
"What if it's Bill?" she hiccupped.  
  
"It won't be," Hermione assured her. "Come on, we have to go tell Professor Dumbledore, and her godparents, and the other Golds."  
  
Ginny nodded and dried her eyes.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry was holding his sister's Celtic cross necklace and stroking it. He had carefully wiped the blood off it and looked it over to make sure it wasn't broken. Rose had told him it had been their mum's, a present from their dad the Christmas Lily Potter sr. had been pregnant with Rose.  
  
"Harry," Hermione said softly. "Let's go. We need to tell Professor Dumbledore about this."  
  
He nodded and slipped the cross into his pocket. He motioned to Ron to follow them.  
  
*You okay, Ron?* Harry asked privately.  
  
*Sort of. Just scared, you know? I don't want anything to happen to them.*  
  
*Me either.*  
  
They walked the rest of the way to Dumbledore's office in silence. Harry used his clearance to get into the office.  
  
"Potter, Harrison James, Gold," he said in a dull voice. The gargoyle leapt aside and the four entered.  
  
Professor Dumbledore looked slightly surprised to see them in his office.  
  
"What brings you all here?" he asked. Then he looked at Ginny, and saw the tearstains on her cheeks.  
  
"Sit down," he said gravely. Ginny sat down next to Harry and Hermione next to Ron. They held each others' hands for support.  
  
"Professor, we went to visit Rose this morning," Harry began. Dumbledore nodded gently. "But when we got to her room, no one was there. We looked through all the rooms, but there wasn't anybody there. When we got to her sitting room, Ginny found this on the floor." Harry drew the cross out of his pocket and showed it to Dumbledore. "There was blood all over it."  
  
Professor Dumbledore looked grave. "I will contact Rose's godparents and the rest of her friends and her family immediately. I will leave the rest to you." He glanced meaningfully at Harry. The small group discussed what he had said on their way back to the common rooms.  
  
"I think he meant her Secret-Keeper," Hermione said. She was somehow still remaining perfectly calm and level-headed.  
  
"And he looked at me," Harry added. "Do you think I could be her Secret- Keeper?"  
  
"It's certainly possible," Hermione said. "I read about how you can reveal whether or not you're someone's Secret-Keeper. It's very simple, really. Think about your sister and how much you want to see her."  
  
Harry did so, focusing all his energy into finding Rose. It took him several minutes, before he came up with a word.  
  
"Pouvoir demeurant," he said, his eyes snapping open. "Pouvoir demeurant. It's where she is."  
  
"Of course! It's an Apparition name!" Hermione said breathlessly. She started dragging them off Hogwarts grounds.  
  
"Whoa, Mione," Ron said. "We'd get in so much trouble if somebody caught us. And what is and Apparition name?"  
  
"They won't, and an Apparition name is basically a spell. You say the core spell, Apparaitre, and then the destination name, or Apparition name. In this case, Pouvoir demeurant. Interesting name."  
  
"Why?" Harry asked. He was a bit tired, as Hermione was dragging them along at a ruthless pace.  
  
"It's French. It means 'be able remaining.'"  
  
"Weird name."  
  
"I know."  
  
"I just detected a slight flaw in your plan, Mione," Ginny said. "We can't Apparate."  
  
"I can." They had just passed the Hogwarts border and were in Hogsmeade. "It was in one of the books Rose gave me. I've been practicing every Hogsmeade visit."  
  
"But what if we get spliced?"  
  
"Ron," Harry said. "Since when has Hermione Granger been known to mess up a spell?"  
  
"Good point."  
  
"Here, I can take you as passengers." She had drawn a line in the dirt. "On the count of three. One. Two."  
  
"WAIT FOR US!" someone bellowed. They looked around, bewildered.  
  
The Golds were rushing for them. "Where is it?" Alex asked desperately.  
  
"Not telling. You have to stay here."  
  
"No."  
  
"Yes you are. I'm sorry about this." Hermione pulled out her wand. "Stupefy beaucoup!"  
  
The six fell down, Stunned. Hermione hurriedly performed the spell and disappeared with a loud pop.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose was furious. Absolutely furious. And the horrible part was she couldn't do anything about it.  
  
She thought about what Voldemort and his sister and the Death Eaters had done to her.  
  
::Flashback::  
  
Rose was sitting in her sitting room. Lily was on her lap, fingering Rose's Celtic cross necklace. Bill was on the floor with James, who was proudly sitting up on his own. Rose smiled at the twins, who smiled right back.  
  
And then the Death Eaters came.  
  
They appeared right in the middle of them, as if they had Apparated. But that wasn't possible, you couldn't Apparate onto Hogwarts. There were six of them. Two grabbed Lily and James. Lily's finger was cut where she had been fingering Rose's necklace. Lily started to cry. Rose screamed in fury.  
  
"Get off them!" she screamed.  
  
The Death Eaters just laughed. One put the Cruciatus on her, and another twisted her arms behind her back. They were doing the same to Bill. Suddenly all ten of them disappeared, and were standing in a large cave.  
  
Rose snatched Lily back from the Death Eater who was holding her. Bill did the same with James. The Death Eaters glided off, but then Voldemort and Lucretia came.  
  
"Welcome back, Rose," Voldemort whispered. "I've been missing you. And so has someone else."  
  
He motioned at a Death Eater in the back of the cave. She glided forward, and Rose noticed she was much shorter than the other Death Eaters. She realized why when they threw back the hood of her cloak. It was Erin.  
  
"I've been waiting to do this since I was eleven years old," she said, and pointed her wand at Rose. Rose quickly shielded Lily with her body.  
  
"Touch my babies and die, O'Connell," she hissed.  
  
Erin laughed. Laughed. Rose's eyes quickly turned deep purple. "Oh, but I don't want your babies," she said softly. "I want you."  
  
And she pointed her wand at Rose and said, "Crucio!"  
  
::End Flashback::  
  
They had done that to every half hour. They did the same to Bill, too. They would levitate the babies and pretend to drop them. Rose was thoroughly pissed, but unfortunately was on the verge of unconsciousness.  
  
She blacked out to hearing her children's crying.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry was in a large cave. He could hear his footsteps echo as he walked.  
  
*Ginny,* Hermione whispered. *Can you feel if she's nearby?*  
  
There was a pause as Ginny mentally looked for Rose.  
  
*Yeah. She's here. So are Bill and the twins. Rose is unconscious, Bill's weak and the twins are scared, but they're all alive. And there are.twelve people with them.*  
  
*Twelve Death Eaters for a witch, wizard and two babies?!*  
  
*Um, Harry, I think two aren't Death Eaters.*  
  
*Oh no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. This is not good. This is really not good.*  
  
*Duh.*  
  
*Shh! I think they can hear us!*  
  
They had been walking towards a smaller branch of the cave in the back; there were voices coming from there. But the voices suddenly stopped as Ron had said "duh." Harry strained to hear what they were saying.  
  
"My lady, why can't we just kill them now?"  
  
Harry's mouth thinned. The first voice was Erin O'Connell's.  
  
"Because we need the others to come. That way we have all the heirs, and the Mudbloods, too."  
  
"And we get to torture." She sounded incredibly pleased. Lucretia Diabolique laughed, the same laugh as her brother.  
  
"Exactly. Now fetch that fat Muggle-born Durseley boy."  
  
"How much longer must we put up with him?" Erin said.  
  
"We get rid of him soon, with that Mudblood girl."  
  
"I apologize for my impudence. I simply do not like dating such an abominably fat and foolish boy. And a Mudblood!"  
  
"Soon, my dear. I am to give you the pleasure of killing him."  
  
Erin laughed, too. She seemed to pick it up from certain other people. "And who shall kill the others?"  
  
"Lucius Malfoy has claimed that Potter girl. I am to get the Mudblood girl. My brother has claimed rights to Potter. I am leaving the Weaslys to the Death Eaters."  
  
"But who is to have the twins?"  
  
"Draco Malfoy has the boy. He shall prove himself worthy to be the Dark Lord's heir. And you shall be able to kill the girl, so you shall prove worthy to be my heir, the next Dark Lady."  
  
O'Connell hissed with delight. Harry turned back to his friends in disgust. He stared at their faces.  
  
Ron was purple in rage, struggling to control his anger. Hermione was pale gray with fear. Ginny looked like she was going to cry.  
  
Harry put his hand on Ginny's shoulder. She relaxed a lot. Ron got his fury under control and tried the same with Hermione. She took a deep, shuddering breath and dried her cheeks.  
  
*Okay, I have a plan,* Hermione told them. *One of us runs out to distract them, they signal when the Death Eater's attention is turned away. Have Avadas ready. We get the Death Eaters, and then get Bill and Rose and the twins. I'll carry Lily, Harry, you carry James.*  
  
*Who distracts, then?* Ron asked. There was an uncomfortable silence.  
  
*It has to be either, uh, Ron or Ginny,* Hermione whispered. *Sorry, but you're the only two who aren't occupied holding a baby.*  
  
*I will,* Ginny said bravely.  
  
*You know, we might not make it out,* Hermione said. *Goodbyes now.*  
  
They all went into a group hug. Hermione kissed Ron and Harry kissed Ginny. He wiped the silent tears from her face.  
  
*Harry, I'm scared,* Ginny whispered.  
  
*It's all right,* Harry said. *Everything will be okay.* And he knew it for a fact. He couldn't tell why, but he knew it was true.  
  
He hugged her one last time, and she took a deep breath before running out in front of Lucretia Diabolique.  
  
"Hey! Over here!"  
  
Lucretia Diabolique and O'Connell both shot Stunning spells at Ginny. She neatly ducked them both.  
  
"Suckers!"  
  
There were advantages to playing Quidditch. She drew out all the Death Eaters to fire Stunning Spells at her. She ducked them all. Lord Voldemort himself went to see what the noise was, followed by a stooped and bent Pettigrew. She motioned to the trio crouched behind the rock, and they quickly dashed into the room.  
  
Bill was holding the twins and was leaning against the wall. Rose was unconscious on the floor. He looked relieved to see them.  
  
"Give me James!" Harry said. Bill silently handed him the crying infant and gave Lily to Hermione. He sagged.  
  
"Here," Hermione said. She touched his shoulder, and it looked like a glow was spreading over him. He stood up.  
  
"Thanks." He leaned down and picked up Rose.  
  
"All right, let's go!" They ran as fast as they could.  
  
Ron nearly tripped over something on the floor. He stopped to look at it.  
  
"Oh my God! It's Ginny!"  
  
"Pick her up and run!" Harry advised. He did so.  
  
They were surprised to see that everyone was gone. They didn't see anyone anywhere in the cave.  
  
Harry looked back at everyone else to see how they were doing. Lily and James were whimpering. Harry's scar began to hurt.  
  
Suddenly, there was an evil laugh and a flash of green light. The twins weren't in their arms anymore.  
  
Lucretia Diabolique Riddle held out her wand, levitating the babies fifty feet above the floor.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose's eyes flickered open. She found she wasn't in the little room anymore. Her brother was there, and Ginny and Hermione and Ron too.  
  
She twitched her hand slightly to let Bill know she was conscious again. He got the gist and put her down.  
  
She was still furious. That nasty bitch, Lucretia Diabolique, had her babies fifty feet above the cave floor. She felt her eyes turn dark purple and hot blood race through her veins. She wasn't helpless anymore.  
  
"ACCIO LILY!" she screamed, holding her hands towards her daughter. Lily zoomed into her arms. Bill got it and did the same for James.  
  
"See, you horrible bitch," Rose snarled at Lucretia. "Gryffindor will always win."  
  
Lucretia laughed. Shit, she hated that laugh. "Oh, but we haven't lost yet."  
  
Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, Erin O'Connell, Crabbe sr., and Goyle sr. were standing at the mouth of the cave.  
  
Rose found herself tied in steel ropes. The others were the same. Lily sat in front of O'Connell, and James in front of Malfoy.  
  
"Ladies first," Lucius Malfoy sneered. He pointed his wand at the helpless Rose.  
  
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" came a yell, but it wasn't from him.  
  
He dropped to the floor, revealing two frightened Patils.  
  
Fred, George, Alex and Ally followed. Fred and George took out their wands and started blasting everyone in sight. Unfortunately, Lord Voldemort, his sister, and their heirs disappeared.  
  
"Damn!" Alex swore.  
  
"Your mouth, Alex," Rose said weakly.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Ginny was still unconscious. As soon as they were untied, Harry and Hermione ran over to her.  
  
"Just a Stunning Spell, right?" Harry said nervously.  
  
"Yeah, but from about three people at once," Hermione said.  
  
"Can you revive her?" Harry asked.  
  
"Yeah." She touched Ginny's shoulder, and the same glow spread down her. She stirred and moaned.  
  
"Ginny?" Harry said gently. She opened her eyes.  
  
"That is the last time I play distracter. It's Ron's turn next time."  
  
"Ginny! You're all right!"  
  
They hugged very hard, and then went into a kiss. Hermione smiled. Rose smirked and said, *How many Weaslys are going to end up in the Potter family tree?*  
  
Hermione snorted. "Come on, let's get OUT of here!"  
  
*~*~*  
  
Two weeks later, Ginny was out of the hospital wing and finished with her O.W.L.s. She was walking by the Great Lake with Hermione.  
  
"You think he'll come back?" she asked.  
  
"Probably," Hermione said, squinting at the squid. "He always does."  
  
"And they have heirs? That sucks. It's never going to end, is it?"  
  
"No. It will end someday." She sighed. "I cannot believe next year is going to be our last year at Hogwarts."  
  
"Not mine."  
  
"Yeah, I know."  
  
"And you won't be saying goodbye to us, really. I mean, you live with Harry. And Ron and I are going to visit a LOT."  
  
"And someone else might move in after her last year," Hermione said, grinning slyly. Ginny understood what she is getting at.  
  
"We're just dating," she said, blushing furiously. "Besides, where'd Ron move in when you-"  
  
"We're just dating!" Hermione said. She turned a shade to rival Ginny.  
  
"Hey, girls!" Ron shouted at them. He was approaching the lake. "End of year party! Common room unless you want to help get food!"  
  
"Sure. Where's Harry?" Ginny asked. Hermione elbowed her.  
  
"Dunno. Went somewhere with Rose."  
  
"Ginny, look!" Hermione pointed across the lake.  
  
A beautiful unicorn with wings and a stag were racing each other across the lake. The unicorn laughed and rose into the sky, flying off towards Hogsmeade. The stag followed on foot.  
  
"Thinking what I'm thinking?" Hermione said. The other two grinned at her.  
  
Soon, an eagle, a phoenix, and a hawk were flying at the unicorn, off to home.  
  
THE END! 


	6. Sequel Info

Sequel Info  
  
Sorry for taking so long to post this but I wasn't allowed to get on the internet. The sequel will be called Lost in Darkness. Here's the summary:  
  
Sequel to the Unicorn and the Stag and Children of the Unicorn. Rose is in the hospital, dying of an unknown illness. Murders are on the rise. There's a new transfer from Durmstrang, and could there be something between her and Neville? Rating just in case.  
  
Bye for now!  
  
(o o) | ~~~  
  
Scat says bye, too. 


End file.
